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34-514: Until the abolition of Districts in 2000, Tepelenë was the seat of the Tepelenë District . Its location is strategically important and there is a ruined citadel occupying a point 300 metres above the river. Ali Pasha of Yanina was born at the nearby village of Beçisht, and Tepelena along with Ioannina were Ali's headquarters. In 1847, the British writer Edward Lear visited the town and noted

68-561: A center of Greek learning, especially the art of rhetoric . It was noted by Cicero , in the Philippics, as 'magna urbs et gravis' a great and important city. Under the Empire, Apollonia remained a prosperous centre, but began to decline as the Vjosë silted up and the coastline changed after the earthquake. Since the fall of communism construction has been taking place. In particular, an Orthodox church

102-699: A general offensive on Vlorë . Despite several attacks and assistance for the Greeks by the British Royal Air Force , the Italians managed to hold the town and in late April 1941, following the German invasion of Yugoslavia , the Greek army was forced to withdraw. Later, the post-war socialist government converted the local Italian army camp into a labour camp. Among those detained were influential Albanian families involved in

136-431: A joint Greek-Albanian venture was announced in 2023 to revitalize these thermal plants to diversify Albania’s electrical industry. Fier is a convenient place to stay to visit the major Classical sites at nearby Byllis and Apollonia. Main roads from the central square lead south to Vlora (35 km or 22 mi) and east to the oil and industrial town of Patos (8 km or 5.0 mi). Also, 19 km (12 mi) to

170-524: A religious mixed population, consisting of Muslims and Orthodox Christians. Data shows that in 1918, after Albanian independence from the Ottoman Empire , Fier and its surrounding countryside on the Myzeqe Plain formed a majority Orthodox Christian enclave, in which Muslims constituted roughly 35% of the total population. Fier's main sports are football and basketball. The main soccer team of Fier

204-698: Is KF Apolonia and plays in the Albanian First Division . There is another team called KF Çlirimi which plays in the Albanian Second Division . KF Apolonia home ground is Loni Papuçiu Stadium . KF Clirimi plays on Stadiumi Fusha Sportive e Shkolles Bujqesore. The basketball club of Fier is BC Apolonia and plays in the Albanian Basketball League and their home ground is Fier Sports Palace. Notable people born in Fier include: Fier

238-473: Is a project for the Fier and Vlore highway. Fier is the seventh most populous city and sixth most populous municipality in Albania. As of the 2023 census, the municipal unit of Fier has a population of 52,926 of whom 25,935 were men and 26,991 women. The municipality of Fier, including its adjacent administrative units, had a total population of 101,963 in 2011. Fier, as other cities of southern Albania, has

272-552: Is an important and successful local enterprise. Due to its location at the confluence of two valleys, Tepelena has always been an important traffic hub in southern Albania. The National Road 4 ( SH4 ), from Fier to Gjirokastër , continues through Tepelenë. The local football club is SK Tepelena . Districts of Albania Districts ( Albanian : rreth or rrethet ) were first and second-level administrative divisions of Albania from 1913–2000. Their number, size, and status changed over time. From 1991 to 2000,

306-564: Is an important industrial city and is built by the Gjanica tributary of the Seman River , and is surrounded by marshland. With nearby Patos town, it is the centre of the oil, bitumen and chemical industries in Albania. Fier additionally has been the home of power-generation in Albania with the construction of the Fier Power Plant during the communist era. Although it was decommissioned in 2007,

340-504: Is bound up with that of the oil, gas and bitumen deposits nearby. The presence of asphalt and burning escapes of natural gas in the vicinity was recorded as early as the 1st century AD. Dioscorides , in Materia Medica , describes lumps of bitumen in the adjacent river Seman, and the concentrated pitch on the banks of the Vjosë river Strabo , writing in about AD 17 states: On the territory of

374-771: Is located on the left shore of the Vjosa River on a plateau above the river. The river applies here, after the river has broken through a few kilometres in the Këlcyrë Gorge a mountain chain, to the North. In addition the Drino flows at this point. North of Tepelenë, the Bënça river coming from the south-west from the Kurvelesh flows into the Vjosa . Tepelenë was formed at the 2015 local government reform by

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408-735: Is served by the A2 motorway and SH 4 highway , forming a north–south corridor in Albania and part of the Adriatic–Ionian motorway . The word "Fier" is claimed to derive from the Albanian word fier , which is claimed to mean "fern". Naming locations after the local flora is a common phenomenon amongst the Myzeqar Albanians. Another alternative hypothesis proposes a derivation from the Italian word fiera , translated as trade fair . The history of Fier

442-675: Is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjosë in the south and the foothills of the Mallakastra Mountains in the southeast. Fier experiences a seasonal Mediterranean climate affected by its proximity to the Adriatic Sea in

476-669: The Adriatic coastline caused by an earthquake in the 3rd century AD, the harbour af Apollonia could accommodate as many as 100 ships. The site was on the territory of Illyrian tribe of the Taulantii . The colony was said to have been named Gylaceia after its Corinthian founder, Gylax , and later changed its name to that of city of the God Apollo. According to archaeological investigations for 100 years Greek and Illyrian have lived in separate communities. The economic prosperity of Apolonia grew on

510-700: The Bylynes ". Later this word evolves and takes the name Tepelene. The Byzantines built a defensive tower which was successively developed during the Ottoman Empire epoch in the 15th century and by Ali Pasha in the early 19th century. In early July 1833 the inhabitants of Tepelenë rose in revolt against Emin Pasha. The Young Turk revolutionaries met in Tepelenë in February 1909, in an attempt to persuade Albanian nationalists to join them. In 1920, an earthquake severely damaged

544-530: The Myzeqe lowlands. The settlement took city status in 1864 when Kahreman Pasha Vrioni, the local governor, asked from some French architects to project a future city as an artisan and trade centre. During the 1864–1865 period a market for 122 merchants was built along the Gjanica river. The first inhabitants of the city were the servants of Kahreman Pasha Vrioni and members of Aromanian families that had lived in

578-467: The Trans Adriatic Pipeline raises the economy of Fier and Albania highly. The pipe line will be crossing Fier and a Pumping Station will be built in Fier. This shows an open road to investment and employment of the city and country. The Pipe line has started since 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2020. This will Supply Albania Natural Gas. There are Urban Buses available throughout

612-486: The 36 districts were organized into 12 counties . Pursuant to the 1998 Constitution and Law No. 8653, the districts were abolished and replaced with the larger counties and smaller municipalities . After its Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912, Albania was divided into districts until the year 2000. During the 1920s and 1930s, there were 39 districts. These were consolidated into 26 in 1939. They were reorganized in 1959. In 1978, Ersekë District

646-472: The Albanian troops in Tepelenë under the command of Colonel Prenk Pervizi deserted the Italian army. The colonel protested by telling the Italian command that the Albanians were not cannon fodder. As a consequence, Colonel Pervizi as well as other officers and Albanian troops were transferred into the mountains of northern Albania and isolated there. Greek forces counter-attacked and advanced towards Tepelenë in

680-400: The area since the early 19th century. Twelve kilometres away from Fier is situated Apollonia , one of the two most important ancient Greek colonial settlements in present-day Albania. It was founded in ~600 BC on a hill near the sea, and near what was then the course of Vjosë river by Ancient Greek settlers from Corfu and Corinth . At the time before the changes in land formation and

714-545: The basis of trade in slaves, and the local rich pastoral agricultural. In the middle of the 5th century BC, a workshop for minting coins was set up here. Through trade and commercial transactions these coins spread throughout Illyria and beyond its boundaries. In the years 214 BC onwards, the city was involved in the war between the Illyrian Taulantii and Cassander , the king of Macedonia , and in 229 BC came under Roman control. In 168 BC, its loyalty to Rome

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748-468: The city. There are also buses at the bus terminal in Fier that can take you throughout places in Albania and Balkan region. Fier is served by Fier railway station . There used to be trains during the communism era and till this day there has been no movement of the trains. The SH4 is a state road that takes you from Durres to Fier. The SH8 is also a state road that will take you from Fier to Vlore . There

782-523: The devastated buildings. The name of Tepelene has been interpreted in three variants; the first connects the origin of this name with the Turkish word " Tepeleden " which means "head-piercing". The second version explains the word with "Tepe e Lenes" which means "the hill of Lenes" and the third more convincing version is the one which explains this name with the Illyrian word "Antibylyne" which means "in front of

816-534: The districts and replacing them with 12 counties as the first-level administrative division and urban and rural municipalities as the second-level division. Berat , Dibër , Durrës , Elbasan , Fier , Gjirokastër , Gramsh , Kolonjë , Korçë , Krujë , Kukës , Lezhë , Librazhd , Lushnjë , Mat , Mirditë , Përmet , Pogradec , Pukë , Sarandë , Shkodër , Skrapar , Tepelenë , Tirana , Tropojë , Vlorë Fier Fier ( pronounced [fiˈɛɾ] ; Albanian definite form : Fieri )

850-406: The merger of the former municipalities Kurvelesh , Lopës , Qendër Tepelenë and Tepelenë, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the town Tepelenë. The total population of the city is 8,949 (2011 census), in a total area of 431.50 km. The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 4,342 and completely ethnically Albanian. The local mineral water plant

884-721: The mouth of Seman within the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park in the northwest across the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast until it reaches the mouth of Vjosë in the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape in the southwest, also forming the southern border of the municipality. The area of the municipality Fier is 619.9 km . Fier has a Mediterranean climate (Csa) under the Köppen climate classification with mild winters and hot, dry summers. Fier

918-531: The people of Apolonia in Illyria there is what is called a nymphaeum. It is a rock which emits fire. Below it are springs flowing with hot water and asphalt... the asphalt is dug out of a neighbouring hill: the parts excavated are replaced by fresh earth, which in time is converted to asphalt. In the 14th and 15th centuries the location was used by the Venetian traders as a marketplace to purchase agricultural products from

952-555: The previous governments. Some died and their graves were unmarked. The camp was closed in 1954. At one point a cholera epidemic killed many inmates. In the 1997 unrest in Albania , Tepelenë became a focal point for the uprising against Sali Berisha 's government. A people's committee took charge of the town in March 1997 and released opposition politician Fatos Nano from the local prison. The movement spread immediately to Gjirokastër where weapons were distributed from Tepelenë. Tepelenë

986-573: The town which was completely rebuilt afterwards. Local tradition says that if Tepelenë exceeds 100 buildings it will be destroyed. In the same year, 400 Italian soldiers surrendered to the Albanians during the Battle of Vlora . On 7 April 1939, Italian forces landed in Albania and took control of the country and Tepelenë in the beginning of World War II. After the Italian invasion of Greece in October 1940 failed,

1020-466: The west of the city centre, one will find the picturesque Seman Beach. Fier is also known for its olive trees production (Kalinjioti cultivar) which contributes to the olive oil sector of Albania. Together with Vlora , Berat and Elbasan they provide almost 90% of olive oil production. The city also plays an important economic role in the development of the county since it produces many goods such as sugar, bread and animal products. The creation of

1054-499: The west. Fier was founded in the 19th century by the Vrioni family and officially in 1864 by Omer Pasha Vrioni II , the father of Kahreman Pasha Vrioni (1889-1955). It is 11 km (7 mi) from the ruins of the ancient settlement of Apollonia which was founded in 588 BCE by Ancient Greek colonists from Corfu and Corinth , on a site occupied by Illyrian tribes . Fier is an important terminus in southwestern Albania and

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1088-670: Was reconstructed in 1999 that allows people to practice their religion. Fier is located on the bank of Gjanica in the southeast of the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north and Vjosë in the south of Fier near the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Albania. The municipality of Fier is encompassed in the County of Fier within the Southern Region of Albania and consists of the adjacent administrative units of Cakran , Dërmenas , Frakull , Levan , Libofshë , Mbrostar , Portëz , Qendër , Topojë and Fier as its seat. It stretches from

1122-426: Was renamed to Kolonjë. In 1991 ten more districts were added: Bulqizë (previously under Dibër), Delvinë (Sarandë), Devoll (Korçë), Has (Kukës), Kavajë (Durrës), Kuçovë (Berat), Kurbin (Krujë), Malësi e Madhe (Shkodër), Mallakastër (Fier) and Peqin (Elbasan). From 1991 to 2000, the 36 districts were organized into 12 counties . The 1998 constitutional reforms came into effect as Law No. 8653 on 31 July 2000, abolishing

1156-615: Was rewarded. For 200 years, it was of central importance in the Roman effort to colonize the east and may have been an original terminus of the Egnatian Way . It was a vital stronghold for Caesar in the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar . In 45 and 44 BC, Octavian , later to become the Emperor Augustus, studied for 6 months in Apollonia, which had established a high reputation as

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