Kavajë

Kavajë (kɑː'vaɪə , Kavaja) is a City and municipality centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania, in Tirana County. It borders Durrës to the north , Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south . To the west lies the Adriatic Sea. Based on the 2011 Census, the municipality had a population of 40,094 inhabitants, although the Civil Registry inferred the total number of inhabitants to be 79,556. The overall surface area is . The name Kavajë is mentioned in Ottoman archives from the Land Registry of the Sanjak of Albania for the years 1431–1432. In the documents, first published by Turkish researcher Halil İnalcık this locality was part of. On Latin Maps it was mentioned as Cavalli (Horses in Italian). There have been varied opinions on the origin of Kavajë as an inhabited settlement. Until recently, researchers believed the early beginnings of this region as a settlement should be sought somewhere in the middle of the 16th century. However, relying on the findings of geological fragments and inscriptions, it appears that the origin of this settlement can be traced back to the first centuries BCE. The present day territory of Kavajë has been inhabited since the Late Antiquity. It is believed that the Illyrian tribe of Taulantii built their city Arnisa in the area today known as Zik-Xhafaj. Ensuing the Roman Conquest of the region, Kavajë would establish itself as a transit route for Via Egnatia – the road was built by the Romans in order to link a chain of their colonies stretching from the Adriatic Sea to the Bosphorus. The famous Battle of Pharsalus between Julius Caesar and his archrival Pompey took place near Shkëmbi i Kavajës, at the time known as Petra. Byzantine historian Anna Komnena in the Alexiad records the name of the area as Kabalion. In the second half of the 13th century and up until the early 15th century, much of central Albania and its surrounding region were ruled by a few powerful feudal families. The two most prominent families that ruled Kavajë at this time were the feudal families of Skuraj and Matrangaj.