Tepelenë

Municipality

Seal

Tepelenë

Coordinates: 40°18′N 20°1′E / 40.300°N 20.017°ECoordinates: 40°18′N 20°1′E / 40.300°N 20.017°E

Country

Albania

County

Gjirokastër

Government

• Mayor

Tërmet Peçi (SP)

Area

• Municipality

431.24 km² (166.50 sq mi)

Population (2011)

• Municipality

8,949

• Municipality density

21/km² (54/sq mi)

• Administrative Unit

4,342

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Postal Code

6301

Area Code

(0)814

Vehicle registration

Tepelenë (Albanian: Tepelena) is a town and a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in the south of Albania. The town is located on the left bank of the Vjosa River, about three kilometres downstream from its union with the Drino.

Until the abolition of Districts in 2000, Tepelenë was the seat of the Tepelenë District. Its location is strategically important and there is a ruined citadel occupying a point 300 metres above the river. Ali Pasha of Tepelenë was born at the nearby village of Beçisht. In 1847, the British writer Edward Lear visited the town and noted the devastated buildings.

At the nearby Vjosa (Greek:Aoos) Narrows ("Aoi Stena"), a Macedonian army barred the way to Epirus and, in 198 BC, a decisive battle, the Battle of the Aous, took place between a Roman army commanded by Consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus and the Macedonians commanded by Philip V. After an attempt of a truce and an inconclusive battle, a sheperd led the Roman army to a point where the Macedonians could be attacked and the Romans won the battle.

The Byzantines built a defensive tower which was successively developed during the Ottoman Empire epoch in the 15th century and by Ali Pasha in the early 19th century.

The Young Turk revolutionaries met in Tepelenë in February 1909, in an attempt to persuade Albanian nationalists to join them.

In 1920, an earthquake severely damaged the town which was completely rebuilt afterwards. Local tradition says that if Tepelenë exceeds 100 buildings it will be destroyed. In the same year, 400 Italian soldiers surrendered to the Albanians during the Battle of Vlora.

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Wikipedia