Круя: История и наследие албанского города

City in Albania

Krujë (; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was inhabited by the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani. In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state in the Middle Ages, the Principality of Arbër. Later it was the capital of the Kingdom of Albania, while in the early 15th century Krujë was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, but then recaptured in 1443 by Skanderbeg, leader of the League of Lezhë, who successfully defended it against three Ottoman sieges until his death in 1468. The Ottomans took control of the town after the fourth siege in 1478, and incorporated it in their territories. A 1906 local revolt against the Ottoman Empire was followed by the 1912 Declaration of Independence of Albania. In the mid 1910s Krujë was one of the battlefields of the conflict between the short lived Republic of Central Albania, founded by Essad Toptani, and the Principality of Albania. In 1914 Toptani managed to seize the town but during the same year it was reincorporated by Prênk Bibë Doda in the Principality of Albania. During World War II it was the centre of the activities of resistance leader Abaz Kupi. The museums of Krujë include the Skanderbeg Museum, located in the environs of the Krujë Castle, and the national ethnographic museum.

The name of the city is related to the Albanian word kroi, krua, meaning "fountain" or "water source", from Proto Albanian * krana < * krasna. In medieval Latin it was known as Croia, Croya and Croarum. During the Ottoman era it was also known as Ak Hisar or Akçahisar from the Turkish words ak (white) and hisar (castle).

In ancient times the region of Krujë was inhabited by the Illyrian tribe of the Albani, while the town is located near the Iron Age Illyrian site of Zgërdhesh. Some scholars have identified the site with the main settlement of the Albani, Albanopolis, while others identified Albanopolis with Krujë itself. During the Illyrian Wars the area of Krujë was captured by the Roman Republic. Early medieval artifacts of Krujë include dress items and weaponry found in fifth and sixth century cemeteries, which display the high status and the wealth of the burials. Originally a middle sized fortress like other urban centers, Krujë expanded to a town probably from the sixth to the ninth century AD. In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state of the Middle Ages, the Principality of Arbër founded by Progon of the House of Progon. During the reign of Gulam of Albania the principality was dissolved and incorporated in the newly founded Kingdom of Albania. During the late 13th and early 14th century the Byzantine and the Thopia family and in 1343 the Serbian Empire took control of the city. The Kingdom of Albania was eventually dissolved between 1363 and 1368, when Karl Topia captured its capital Durrës and incorporated its territories, including Krujë in 1363 in the Princedom of Albania. After 1389 the House of Thopia gradually lost control of the town, which by 1395 had come under Ottoman vassalage. The Ottomans lost control of Krujë in the early 15th century, when it was captured by Niketa Thopia and regained it in 1415. After its recapture it was incorporated in the Sanjak of Albania and formed an administrative unit with the status of Subaşilik as attested in the regional register of 1431. On 28 November 1443 Skanderbeg gained control over Krujë by deceiving its subaşi with forged sultan's letter, and raised the first Albanian flag on the same day. This success was viewed by the Ottomans as a good omen that the siege of Shkodra would also be successful.

During the rise of nationalism in the Ottoman Empire Krujë became the battlefield of various anti Ottoman rebellions also related with the imposition of new taxes. In 1906 the people of Krujë revolted once more against the Ottoman Empire. The Wāli of Shkodër, Sali Zeki Pasha sent four battalions of the Ottoman army stationed in the city against the rebels of Krujë. After prolonged confrontations the Ottoman officials offered to begin negotiations with the rebels. On 20 September 1906 the leaders of Krujë and the Ottoman diplomats met at the Tallajbe quarter of Krujë to discuss the administrative status of the town, however, the Ottoman army under Şemsi Pasha ambushed the rebel leaders. During the battle that followed, which became known in history after the Tallajbe district, about 30 people died including uninvolved civilians. In 1914 Essad Toptani, a member of the notable Toptani family of the region and officer of the Ottoman army, captured the town and incorporated it in the Republic of Central Albania making it a center of his movement, but in June of the same year it was reincorporated by Prênk Bibë Doda in the Principality of Albania. On 20 December 1914 the local anti Essadists, led by Abdi Toptani and Mehmet Gjinali, formed the Union of Krujë, which quickly extended its authority in central Albania. Following the Italian invasion of Albania the country became a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. Mustafa Merlika Kruja, a native of Krujë, who became the Prime Minister of the new regime ordered the formation of a 300 man gendarmerie force to defend the town against resistance groups. However, soon afterward, resistance leader Abaz Kupi, another native of the town, created one of the first permanent resistance forces of Albania in Krujë and gradually took control of the region. In 1943 at the assembly of Tapizë Balli Kombëtar proposed to the LNÇ the creation of provisional resistance government, with Krujë as the capital city, but this proposal was rejected by the LNÇ leaders. In the end of November 1944, the last German troops stationed in the area were defeated and LNÇ battalions entered the town.

Krujë is found at an altitude of 600 m (1,969 ft) on the foot of Mount Krujë , while south and west of the town is found the plain of the Ishëm River. The current mayor of Krujë is Artur Bushi, who was elected in the 2015 local elections as a candidate of the Socialist Party of Albania.

Krujë has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) with warm summers, cool winters, and abundant precipitation.

The total population of Krujë is 59,814 (2011 census), in a total area of 339.20 km2. The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 11,721. During 1968–69 a new medical laboratory and a department of surgery were added and expanded. In 1970 the Directorate of Hygiene and Epidemiology of the district was established in the town. In 1977 9 a new hospital and polyclinic were built, while in 1986 the first Obstetrics and gynaecology hospital of the town was opened. In 1284 the Byzantine Empire expelled the Catholic bishop of Krujë, while after Stefan Uroš II Milutin captured the town, he also expelled the Catholic bishop Andreas Croensis in 1317. In Illyricum Sacrum Daniele Farlati documented fourteen Catholics bishops of the town from 1286 to 1694, while Konrad Eubel documented four additional bishops. Bektashism was introduced in the region of Krujë in the early 18th century. During the Ottoman era a tekke dedicated to the Bektashi saint Sari Saltik was built near the church of Saint Alexander. In 1789–99 the Dollma tekke was built by the Dollma family near the castle. In 1807 Sheikh Mimi, sent by Ali Pasha to Krujë founded another tekke in the town. However, Sheikh Mimi was executed by Kaplan Pasha, who destroyed the tekke, which was restored by Baba Husayn of Dibër in the mid 19th century. In the early 20th century, Hasluck wrote that the population of Krujë ("Croia") appeared to be almost entirely Bektashi.