Krujë, Albania

Kruja Town

Krujë is a historic hill town about 20 km north of Tirana, set at around 600 metres on the slopes of Mount Krujë. In 1190 it became the capital of the Principality of Arbanon, and in the 15th century it was the stronghold of national hero Skanderbeg, whose forces held off three major Ottoman sieges here; the town fell only in 1478, a decade after his death.

Tours in Krujë Explore Krujë

Kruja Castle's museum towers against a pink and violet evening sky, the flag flying

Krujë
Skanderbeg
Krujë Castle
Old Bazaar

About Kruja Town

Above the town stands Krujë Castle, home to the Skanderbeg Museum, opened in 1982, and the National Ethnographic Museum, set in an 18th-century Toptani family house. Within the walls are also a Bektashi tekke, a Turkish bath and the remains of an old mosque.

Leading up to the castle, the cobbled Old Bazaar is lined with small shops and workshops selling traditional crafts, antiques and souvenirs, some of them continuing the trades displayed in the Ethnographic Museum.