Blacë Castle
Fshati: Blacë, Njësia Administrative: Çërravë, Bashkia: Pogradec
Blacë Castle lies to the west of the village of Blacë. It rises on the summits of two hills separated from each other only by a narrow hollow. These hills belong to a long east–west ridge that forms a natural boundary between the Korça plain and the Pogradec basin. The first investigations into traces of settlement here were carried out by the Pogradec Museum at the end of the 1960s, while a later research expedition in the early 1970s defined its features more precisely. These studies show that the castle's earliest phase dates to the Late Bronze Age (around 1500–1200 BC), placing it among the early Illyrian fortifications. During this period, and during the Early Iron Age (around 1200–1000 BC), the castle covered an area of 15 ha, which included the two acropolises on the summits of the two hills – each enclosed by its own wall – as well as the slopes of the hills, protected by an outer wall. The walls of this period were built of unworked stones laid dry, without mortar. Field research shows that the southern acropolis bears the densest traces of habitation. Here life was renewed later, in the Illyrian Urban period, to which one of the phases of refortification of the encircling wall belongs; this time it was built of dressed stones bound with mortar. The fortification was reused, though less intensively, in the Roman period, and enjoyed something of a revival during Late Antiquity. The barbarian invasions that swept the area in the 6th–7th centuries AD caused life here to decline once more, until the site was finally abandoned in the 7th–8th centuries AD.
Monument record
- Ownership
- State-owned
- Current use
- Cultural site
- Original use
- Fortified settlement
- Dating
- End of the 2nd millennium BC – Early Middle Ages
- Declared a monument
- Ministry of Education and Culture, Decision no. 1886, dated 10/06/1973
- Monument category
- I – First
- Current condition
- The entire circuit of walls is easily distinguishable above ground and can be visited without difficulty.
- Distance from Pogradec city centre
- 10 km to the south.
How to get there
You can drive or take a bus as far as the village of Blacë, as the road is in very good condition. From Blacë to the fortification it is advisable to continue on foot.
What it offers
- Cultural Monument
