Castel of Kanina

Kanina Castle is located 6 km from the city of Vlora, on a hill 380 m above sea level. The castle was declared a cultural heritage monument of the "Archaeology" type in 1948. The surrounding wall is 1 km long and covers an area of 3.6 ha. The castle is thought to have been built around the 4th century BC. In the entire fortification system, we distinguish several construction phases that span two periods, in the ancient period as well as in the medieval period, namely Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish. The castle was rebuilt by Justinian in the VI century, who built 94 fortifications in Epirus . In the XII-XIII centuries, it turned into a military center.

It was also conquered by Sultan Sulejmani in 1530 and recently by the Albanian feudal lords of Vlora, in the XVII-XIX centuries.
The castle of Kanina is divided by transverse walls into three parts. Of them, today only the wall that separates the highest part of the hill, which was protected by three towers, is preserved. Inside the enclosure, there were residential houses, buildings for the garrison, ammunition depots, as well as water supply cisterns. The entrances are simple and protected by the side tower. The towers that reinforce the walls have circular, polygonal, triangular and quadrangular shapes. Many of the towers, judging by their construction techniques and planimetric forms, represent different periods of construction.

Of the seven towers that are preserved today in the Kanina fortress, two of them have a triangular shape. But the amount of towers in general has been greater. From a planimetric sketch, published in 1688, it can be seen that the castle at that time had 14 towers.
The castle is in a walled field and in front of it is the sea, which seems to be in the palm of your hand. Kanina Castle remains an exceptional attraction for historical and cultural tourism in Vlora.