Five Hundred and Fifty-Five Years since the Repose of Gjergj Kastrioti, Our National Hero.
On this day, we commemorate five hundred and fifty-five years since the repose of Gjergj Kastrioti (Skënderbeu), our National Hero who passed away on 17 January 1468 in the city of Lezha. He was buried in the Byzantine Church of St. Nikolla where there is a memorial today.
He was born in 1405 in a noble family who owned the Castle of Kruja, and which became a center of resistance against the invaders. He and his wife (Andronika or Donika Kastrioti) were crowned in the Monastery of Ardenica. She was the daughter of a noble man, Gjergj Arianiti, and they had a son together.
Like no one else before, he resisted the ottoman invaders for twenty-five years and protected the country, the culture and faith not allowing the invaders to continue their invasion towards Europe.
