Skanderbeg
Trip Start
Dec 31, 2010
1
56
73
Trip End
May 14, 2011
Kruje, Albania
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Kruja is the hometown of Albania's national hero Skanderbeg, who was originally called Kastrioti and was the son of an Albanian prince. He was handed over as a hostage to the Turks who converted him to Muslim and changed his name to Iskander after Alexander the Great. He received military promotion to the rank of Governor, or bey, and hence the name Skanderbeg.
After the Turks were defeated at Nis in what is now Serbia, Skanderbeg took the opportunity to abandon the Ottoman army and rally like minded Albanians to fight the Turks. Kruja was his seat of government between 1443 and 1468 and he repulsed 13 Turkish invasions includng one lead by his former Sultan, Murat II, in 1450. Overall, the Turks beseiged Kruja 4 times and were beaten back in 1450, 1466 and 1467 before finally taking control in 1478 after the death of Skanderbeg.
We stopped at the Skanderbeg museum and were given a guided tour which unfortunately, though interesting, went on a little too long meaning we didn't have time to visit the supposedly interesting Ethnographic Museum.
After a quick snack on the way to catch the bus to Budva came the comedy moment of the day. As we walked down the road an open truck full of Albanian workers began tooting and pointing at Cheryl to get out of the road...or so we thought. Amid swearing and gesticulating from Cheryl it was then pointed out that she had her skirt tucked into her undercrackers, cue much embarrassment from Cheryl and much laughter from the people in the truck and us!
