The Albanian Tower (Albanian: Kulla Shqiptare), also known as Arbanaski pirg is a historic structure located within the Hilandar Monastery on Mount Athos.
| Albanian Tower | |
|---|---|
Kulla Shqiptare Arbanaski pirg | |
 Copper engraving of Hilandar Monastery in 1757. An arrow indicates the Albanian Tower. | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Location | Mount Athos, Greece |
| Coordinates | 40°19′54.09″N 24°7′47.64″E / 40.3316917°N 24.1299000°E |
| Owner | Hilandar Monastery Gjon Kastrioti (Previously) |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Stone |
History
editThe Tower was thought to be originally being dedicated to Saint George.[1] This tower, located outside the monastery walls, remains partially preserved today, with ruins reaching up to four or five meters in height, along with sections of the surrounding wall.[2]
In the year of 1426 the Albanian Lord Gjon Kastrioti either donated the villages of Radostusha and Trebisht, or the rights to the tax revenues from these villages, as well as possibly donating the Church of Saint Mary, located in one of them, or its associated income to Hilandar Monastery.[3][4][5] Between 1426 and 1431, Gjon Kastrioti and his sons, Reposh, Kostandin, and Gjergj with the exception of Stanisha, acquired four adelphates for 60 fiorints. They were granted the right to reside on monastic land and receive subsidies from monastic resources, including ownership of the Albanian Tower and additional properties within the monastery.[5][6][7] In Gjon's honor, the Saint George Tower at the Hilandar Monastery became known as the Albanian Tower (Arbanaski pirg).[8][9][10] It is possible that Gjon Kastrioti played a role in the construction of the Tower.[11]
An inscription at Hilandar, referencing Reposh's death in 1431, suggests that he, and possibly his father Gjon, utilized their adelphates to retire to the tower, where Reposh ultimately spent his final days as a monk.[12][13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Pavlikianov, Cyril (2001). The medieval aristocracy on Mount Athos : the philological and documentary evidence for the activity of Byzantine, Georgian, and Slav aristocrats and eminent churchmen in the monasteries of Mount Athos from the 10th to the 15th century. the University of Virginia. p. 30. ISBN 978-9-5407-1595-7.
...one of the monastery's towers as the tower of the Albanians (Arbanaski pirg). The initial view of the scholarly community was that this tower, being dedicated to St. George...
- ^ nauka i umetnosti, Srpska akademija (1989). Хиландарски зборник. Indiana University. p. 22.
...This was a tower outside the monastery walls the ruins of which are preserved today up to four or five meters, together with parts of the big wall which surrounded it...
- ^ nauka i umetnosti, Srpska akademija (1989). Хиландарски зборник. Indiana University. p. 22.
...From the first half of the 15th century, we have data that Ivan Kastriot and his four sons gave Hilander two villages (Radostouse and Trebiste) in 1426...
- ^ Slijepčević, Đoko M. (1983). Srpsko-arbanaški odnosi kroz vekove sa posebnim osvrtom na novije vreme (in Serbian). Himelstir. p. 45.
Заједно са синовима Константином, Репошем и Ђурђем приложио је Иван Кастриот манастиру Хиландару село Радосуше са црквом св. Богородице и село Требиште....Због тога је и пирг св. Ђорђа прозван »арбанашки пирг». Репош је умро у манастиру Хиландару 25. јула 1431. године и ту је сахрањен. (Together with his sons Konstantin, Repoš and Đurađ, Ivan Kastriot donated village Radosuše with church of saint Mary and village Trebište to the monastery Hilandar... Therefore the tower of Saint George was named "Albanian Tower". Repoš died in Hilandar on 25 July 1431 and he was buried there.
- ^ a b Sindik 1990.
- ^ nauka i umetnosti, Srpska akademija (1989). Хиландарски зборник. Indiana University. p. 22.
...After 1428 Ivan Kastriot and three of his sons bought four adelphats in the Albanian Pyrgos from Hilander, for 60 fiorints...
- ^ Sindik, Dušan (1990). "Dve povelje u Hilandaru o Ivanu Kastriotu i sinovima". Stanovništvo slovenskog porijekla u Albaniji : zbornik radova sa međunarodnog naučnog skupa održanog u Cetinju 21, 22. i 23. juna 1990 (in Serbian). Istorijski institut SR Crne Gore ; Stručna knj. OCLC 29549273.
Повеља није датирана... Стога ће бити најбоље да се за датум издавања ове повеље задржи временски оквир између 1426. и 1431. године.... This act was not dated....Therefore it is best to assume that it was issued in period between 1426 and 1431.
- ^ Oliver Jens Schmitt, Bernd J. Fischer (2022). A Concise History of Albania. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-1070-1773-3.
...which, as a result, became known as the Albanian tower...
- ^ Frashëri, Kristo (1962). George Kastrioti-Scanderbeg: the national hero of the Albanians (1405–1468). s.n. pp. 86–92. OCLC 1339175.
- ^ Anamali, Skënder (2002). Historia e popullit shqiptar në katër vëllime (in Albanian). Vol. I. Botimet Toena. p. 342. OCLC 52411919.
- ^ Housley, Norman (June 17, 2016). The Crusade in the Fifteenth Century Converging and Competing Cultures. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-3170-3687-6.
...his father had built the so-called Albanian tower in the Chilandar monastery on Mount Athos...
- ^ nauka i umetnosti, Srpska akademija (1989). Хиландарски зборник. Indiana University. p. 22.
... An inscription in Hilandar which speaks of Reposhs death in 1431 is testimony that he, and perhaps Ivan himself, used his adelphat, withdrew to the pyrgos and ended his life there...
- ^ Oliver Jens Schmitt, Bernd J. Fischer (2022). A Concise History of Albania. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-1070-1773-3.
...His son Reposh died at Hilandar as an Orthodox monk...