Albania · 6th century
The Fortress of Bashtovë (Albanian: Kalaja e Bashtovës), also known in medieval times as Breg, Briego or Vrego is a medieval quadrangular fortress located close to the outflow of the Shkumbin River into the Adriatic Sea in central Albania. It is part of the tentative list of Albania in order to qualify for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
The fortress is built on a fertile flat ground east of the mouth of the Shkumbin River. The ruins are located some 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the village of Vilë-Ballaj in Tirana County. By air, it is 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of Fier, 20 kilometres (12 miles) northwest of Lushnjë, 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) south of Kavajë and 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of Tirana.
Text adapted from “Fortress of Bashtovë” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Bashtovë Fortress ranks #1,959 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #8 of the 27 mapped in Albania. Founded c. 550, it is older than 96% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 39 atlas entries founded in the 6th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,452 times in the last 60 days, more than 61% of the atlas. The nearest day-trip guide is Durrës, 30 km away. See how Albania compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →