Albania · Partial ruin
Tepelenë Fortress
Tepelena Castle (Ali Pasha's Castle) is a large Ottoman fortress occupying a hill above the Vjosa valley in the town of Tepelenë, southern Albania. Expanded by Ali Pasha in the early 19th century, its surviving fabric includes long curtain walls, several polygonal towers and the main gate complex, while many of the internal buildings no longer survive intact.
Its prime
1819
Today
Partial ruin
As it stood in 1819
What Tepelenë Fortress looked like in its prime.
A 4-hectare hilltop fortress with long, thick grey stone curtain walls rising from a steep slope above the Vjosa valley; walls reach roughly 10 m high and up to 5 m thick. The outer face has a large arched eastern entrance (the Vizier Gate) and at least two other gates; three polygonal stone towers stand at southeast, southwest and northwest positions. Masonry is dressed stone using cloisonné technique; the plan encloses a broad open central courtyard ringed by service buildings.
Its story
The story of Tepelenë Fortress.
Tepelena Castle, also known as Ali Pasha's Castle, covers four hectares on a hill above the Vjosa valley in the southern Albanian town of Tepelenë. It was an important residence of Ali Pashë Tepelena, the local ethnic Albanian who rose to become the powerful Ottoman ruler of the Pashalik of Yanina and who expanded the fortress in the early 19th century.
It was here that Lord Byron met Ali Pasha in 1809, making him famous in Western Europe through Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. Long curtain walls, several polygonal towers and the main gate complex survive, though many of the internal buildings no longer stand intact.
Step inside
11 places to explore in 1819.
The record describes 11 distinct spots at Tepelenë Fortress — including 6 interiors: central courtyard (interior, open-air), ali pasha's palace (sarajet) site (interior), barracks and magazines (interior) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and walk through every one — more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Create History
Recreate Tepelenë Fortress with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1819 — a photoreal walk that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
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