| Tepelenë | |
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Tepelenë
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Albania |
| County | Gjirokastër County |
| District | Tepelenë District |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 6,575 |
| Time zone | Central European Time (UTC+1) |
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) |
| Postal code | 6301 |
| Area code(s) | 0814 |
| Car Plates | TP |
Tepelenë (Definite Albanian form: Tepelena) is the principal settlement in the eponymous Tepelenë District of southern Albania. It is located on the left bank of the Vjosë river,[1] about three kilometres downstream from its union with the Drino.
Its location is strategically important and there is a ruined citadel occupying a point 300 metres above the river. Ali Pasha was born at the nearby village of Beçisht. In 1847, the British writer Edward Lear visited the town and noted the devastated buildings.
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At the nearby Aoos Narrows ("Aoi Stena"), a Macedonian army barred the way to Epirus and, in 196 BC, a decisive battle, the Battle of the Aous took place between a Roman army commanded by Consul Titus Quinctius Flamininus and the Macedonians commanded by Philip V. After an attempt of a truce and an inconclusive battle, the Roman army was led by a shepherd to a point where the Macedonians could be attacked and the Romans won the battle.
The Byzantines built a defensive tower which was successively developed during the Ottoman Empire epoch in the 15th century and by Ali Pasha in the early 19th century.
The Young Turk revolutionaries met in Tepelenë in February 1909, in an attempt to persuade Albanian nationalists to join them.
In 1920, an earthquake destroyed the town which was completely rebuilt afterwards: local tradition says that if Tepelenë exceeds 100 buildings then it will be destroyed. In the same year, 400 Italian soldiers surrendered to the Albanians, during the Battle of Vlora.
On 7 April 1939 Italian forces landed in Albania and took control of the country and Tepelenë. After the failed Italian offensive on Greece in October 1940, Greek forces counter-attacked and advanced toward Tepelenë in a general offensive on Vlorë. Despite several attacks and assistance from the British Royal Air Force, the Italians managed to hold the town and in late April 1941, following the German invasion of Yugoslavia, the Greek army was forced to withdraw.[2]
The local Italian army camp was converted by the post-war Communist regime to a forced labour camp. It had a bad reputation for brutality and disease and was referred to as the "Albanian Belsen". It was closed in the 1950s after a cholera epidemic had killed most of the inmates.
In 1997, Tepelenë became a focal point for the uprising against Sali Berisha's government. A people's committee took charge of the town in March 1997 and released opposition politician, Fatos Nano, from the local prison. The movement spread immediately to Gjirokastër where weapons were distributed from Tepelenë.
The local mineral water plant is an important and successful local enterprise.
The football club is SK Tepelena.
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