Erected on a rocky spur overlooking Gjirokastra at an altitude of 336 m, this fortress (Kalaja e Gjirokastrës) is the largest in Albania. It is 600 m long and 70 m wide at its widest point. From its ramparts, you can enjoy a superb panorama of the old town, the Drino valley and the "large mountain" massif (Mali i Gjerë, 1,789 m above sea level). The site was fortified by the Byzantines from the^5th century onwards. They named the site Argyrokastro ("Silver Castle"), which gave rise to Gjirokastra in Albanian. The citadel took its present form under the Byzantine despots (princes) of Epirus in the ^12th century, and was reinforced by the Ottomans after the city's capture in 1414, before being captured by Ali Pasha of Tepelena in 1811. The tour begins in the heart of the citadel, in underground passages that served as warehouses, a powder magazine and then a prison between the 1930s and 1990s. To the right of the ticket office, the impressive vaults open onto a small courtyard housing the mausoleum of two Bektashi dignitaries from the ^16th and ^17th centuries.

French quote and American plane. To the left of the ticket office, the "grande allée" was dug under the reign of Ali Pacha. It houses military equipment used by the Albanian army between 1913 and the 1970s, including a rare example of an Italian Fiat L6/40 light tank captured in 1944. At the end of this gallery is the Weapons Museum. Light returns to the arcaded north-western rampart. Note the plaque bearing a quotation from French writer Guy Chantepleure, pseudonym of Jeanne-Caroline Violet (1870-1950), wife of French consul in Athens Edgar Dussap and witness to the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). Further on, you'll find the cannons of Ali Pasha's army and the carcass of an American Air Force fighter. This Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star was forced to land near Tirana on December 23, 1957, and the pilot was released two weeks later. We then arrive in the fortress courtyard, where a stage hosts various festivals. It was here that the oldest traces of settlement in the city were discovered (^4th-2nd centuries BC). To the right of the stage is a small ^17th-century Bektashi mausoleum. At the far end, the clock tower dominates the entire town. It was built in the early ^19th century on the site of an Orthodox church. At the foot of the tower are casemates and a former artillery post overlooking the Drino valley.