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Albania Gift -  Lezha City Fridge Magnet - Scanderbeg Tomb

Lezhë (Albanian: Lezha or Lezhë; Italian: Alessio) is a city in northwest Albania, in the district and county with the same name. It is located at 41.79°N 19.65°E and has a population of about 27,500 (2009 est)

The city was founded around 385 BC^[1] as a Greek colony by Dionysius I of Syracuse by the name of Lissos, as part of a strategy by Dionysius to secure Syracusan trade routes along the Adriatic.^[2] Diodorus calls it a polis.^[1] The city was separated into sectors by diateichisma^[1] (Greek: διατείχισμα, "cross-wall"^[3]) and there are elements of Syracusan architecture in part of its walls. At a later time it came under Illyrian rule. In 211 BC, Philip V of Macedon captured the citadel of Akrolissos, and Lissos surrendered to him. The town was later recovered by the Illyrians. It was in Lissos that Perseus of Macedon negotiated an alliance against Rome with the Illyrian king Gentius, and it was from Lissus that Gentius organized his army against the Romans. Lissus maintained a large degree of municipal autonomy under both Macedonian and Illyrian rule, as evidenced by the coins minted there.^[4] In Roman times, it was part of the province of Epirus Nova^[5] and was known as Lissus.^[6]

Lezhë was the site of the League of Lezhë in 1444 where Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg united the Albanian princes in the fight against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg was buried in the cathedral of Lezhë which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Lezhë was also known as Alessio or Lis, Lissus.

In 1478 Lezhë was captured by the Ottomans.

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