The Castle of Porto Palermo

The castle is built on a peninsula in the small bay of Porto Palermo, which in antiquity was known as the Bay of Panormos, on the road connecting Himara with Qeparo. The castle was constructed by Ali Pasha Tepelena on the ruins of an earlier Venetian fortress. It has a triangular plan shape with three strong bastions at its corners. Its dimensions are 150 m by 400 m, and the height of the walls reaches 20 m. The entrance is located in the middle of the southern wall. On the sea side, between two bastions, a trapezoidal area is enclosed by walls equipped with loopholes. The rest of the castle consists of a large number of vaulted rooms, which end at the top with a shared terrace. Ali Pasha mainly used the castle as a military point but also as a prison, a function later used by the communist regime for political prisoners and families interned during the dictatorship.