Jesse Ventura

Dorëzi Fortress
Dorëz village, 5 km east of Pezë, and 20 km southwest of Tirana, Albania
Site information
Type	Hill castle
Owner	Public
Open to the public	No
Condition	Inaccessible
Location
Coordinates	41°13′35″N 19°44′37″E / 41.2265°N 19.7435°E / 41.2265; 19.7435
Site history
Built	9th century BC
Built by	Unknown
In use	Until 6th century AD
Materials	Stone

The Dorëzi Fortress is situated close to Dorëz village in Albania, 5 km east of Pezë and 20 km southwest of Tirana. It is the oldest in the Tirana County and dates to the 9th century BC.^[1]

The first archaeological expedition was performed in 1951. The ruins of the fortress are to be found in one of the highest hills of the Krrabë, at about 479 metres (1,572 ft) above sea level. It is thought that Dimale may have been situated in the Dorëzi Fortress. The surrounding wall is in its southern part, and is 300 metres (980 ft) long from east to west. The fortress construction seems to have had three phases—the first with raw stones, the second with carved blocks placed with no mortar (Hellenistic period) and the third with crushed stones and the use of mortar (4th–6th centuries AD). One can see the main entrance of the fortress. The presence of old vases that date to those centuries suggests that the site was inhabited until at least the 4th–6th centuries AD.^[1]