How Lezha was built according to the legend

As in any other ancient civilization, where the centuries has gone by along with rivers leaving traces behind, even Lezha is planted with legends and history in each corner of it. This is one of the most beautiful Albanian legends which tells us how this city was created. Once upon a time, in these parts, fairies have wandered. They had a dazzling beaty. A bunch of 600 fairies. 300 with white mantels and 300 with black ones. They used to bath in the sea and then hide in the forest. When they reached this land, they understand that they had found the right place, where everything is there, sun and rain, sea and mountain, fields and hills, the place everybody had the best one on earth. According to the legend that still survives nowdays in this territories, an old prophecy spoke on the arrival of a two headed man. An evening, at sunset, the fairies saw two shepherds. They were sleeping head to head under a tree. The fairies thought that the two headed man had come and they left, leaving this place to the people, who never left, neither when the war fire burnt them out, nor when they were hurt by the earths tremors. This is Lezha that was never abandoned and these are lezhians that have lived in these territories. How some researchers rephrase Lezha : Ana Komnena (byzantine chronicler cen.XII): “Lezhe is a castle built in air, a town which can be viewed from all sides.” Filipus V of Macedonia (238 BC – 179 BC): “I hoped to nail down Lezha and Akrolis. Now I have to admitt that due to an extraordinary fortification, it was practically undefeatable. “ Elio Hobdari (archeologist): “The large number of gates, towers and fortifying elements are an important indicator that shows the high engineering level of this fortification.” Elvana Metalla (archeologist): “It is likely that Lissus was founded by the Illyrian kings of the Ardian dynasty.” Neritan Ceka (archeologist): “Lezha may be called a gift from centuries, in the full sense of the word.” Ferit Duka (historian): “In the Skanderbeg’s period, Lezha played a fundamental role in the organization of the liberation war against the ottomans.” Kolec Topalli (linguist): “The name of Lezha town has not only undergone phonetic changes that are explained by the laws of the Albanian language, but also witnesses the continuity of the Albanian population in these territories.” Shaban Sinani (ethnologist): “The most suitable word to decode what culture represents, what the civilization has preserved in this city, is “palimpsest”. Lezha has undergone all the stages of life and civilization in the history of Albania and has left its marks in all of them” Pëllumb Xhufi (historian): “Lezha is one of the most significant centers of the Albanian and Adriatic-Balkanic = civilization.”