Castle of Çuka e Ajtoit

The hill of Çukës e Ajtoit, on which the ruins of the Castle are located, is located 8 km west of Konispol above the village of Çiflik. It has the shape of a thin-tipped cone and is 350m above sea level. The first excavations were carried out in 1936, first by Ugolini and later by Marconi. It is the second important center in this pond. It rises at the southeastern tip of the province, on the left bank of the Pavlla River. On the north side it has a pronounced rocky fall, while on the southwest side come down terraces suitable for living. It has an area of ​​over 5 ha and a wall length of 1400 m. The top of the hill is surrounded by a wall without towers, the functions of which were performed by the frequent turns of the wall line and the encirclement of a terrace on the west side. The settlement has 6 entrances located on the south side. Dated in Cen. IV p. K. The castle of late antiquity lies within the ancient fortifications in an area as large as 1/3 of the ancient city and has the shape of an irregular hexagon with a wall almost 700m long including a circle of about 1.3 ha. On the north side of the castle the wall has its greatest length, about 280m. The wall reaches a height of almost 2 m and a width ranging from 1- 1.10 m, 1.90- 2.10 m. The entrance of the castle is in the same place where there was an ancient entrance on the south side. The gate corridor is 1.70 m wide. The castle is fortified by three towers with different planimetry (triangular, rectangular and semicircular). The highest part of the castle, which, dividing by a wall, creates an acropolis imitation. It is thought that the medieval castle was built in the period of late antiquity, around Cen. IV- VI e.s. The surrounding wall of Çuka e Ajtoit is polygonal, formed by two side shirts with massive blocks of worked stone and a core with ballast stones. It is 3.2m wide. The construction of the medieval castle is with the same technique and belongs to a single period of construction. The wall of the castle is built of medium and small limestone, bound with mortar mixed with sand, reaching up to 1m wide. The wall of the acropolis is 1.20-1.50 m thick with small and medium stones connected with lime mortar.