Castles of "Albania" PORTO PALERMO CASTLE vs RODONI CASTLE

Porto Palermo Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Porto Palermos) is a castle near Himarë in southern Albania. It is situated in the bay of Porto Palermo, a few kilometers south of Himarë along the Albanian Riviera. Huffington Post ranked Porto Palermo first among 15 Undiscovered European Destinations for 2014.] The area together with Llamani beach will be proclaimed a protected area holding the status of Protected Landscape by the Albanian Government. The well preserved castle is commonly, but wrongly, asserted, by guide books and the local tourist guides, to have been built in early 19th century by Ali Pasha of Tepelena. This is untrue as the fort with its current design was built prior to the evolution of the star fort design. Most probably it was built by the Venetians as it could be relieved by sea and it has the same triangular plan with round towers found in the Venetian fort at Butrint. Its design is very unusual in having no courtyard. Normally castles had provision for housing some horses, if only to receive and send messengers. In 1921 the castle was called Venetian. At that time the identity of its builders ought to have been clear, from a plaque above the entrance gate. This plaque is now missing but the weathering of the stones clearly shows that it has not been missing for many decades. Almost certainly this plaque had a carving of the lion of St. Mark. Porto Palermo Castle is a castle near Himara in southern Albania with an intriguing history. It is situated in the closed bay of Porto Palermo, a few kilometers south of Himarë, and makes nearly an island that is connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land. The fort served as former Soviet submarine base during the communist regime in Albania, and nowadays its semi abandoned tunnel and barrack attract attention of visitors, as well as the stronghold walls and gates built by the powerful Ali Pasha of Ionina.

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The Rodoni Castle or Skanderbeg Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Rodonit; Kalaja e Skënderbeut) is a castle in Albania. Rodoni Castle is at an elevation of 1 metre (3 ft). Rodoni Castle is on the Cape of Rodon. After the victorious First Siege of Krujë the League of Lezhë decided to increase the fortifications for use against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg chose the cape of Rodon as the location of the castle and construction began in 1450. The walls of the castle that was completed in approximately 1452 had a length of 400 metres (1,300 ft). When the Siege of Krujë started in 1466 Skanderbeg retreated to Rodoni Castle from where he and his family, together with many people from Albania, were transported to Brindisi in 14 ships. According to Marin Barleti this castle was destroyed by Ottoman forces in 1467. In 1500 the castle was rebuilt by the Republic of Venice. As a result of the corrosive action of the sea waves, some of the walls are now under the waters of the Adriatic. Today the visitors can see the outer walls on the right side and the tower at the place they intersect.

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