Travels in Southeastern Europe

The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.

322 THE BURDEN OF THE BALKANS. meat, and the bread is bread. It has not had half the goodness removed by freezing, by borates, by chemical processes or adulteration. The old town called the Kastra, which sounds as though the Romans had had a say in the matter (and that they had a town here seems shown also by some sculptures built into a church wall), stands on a hill high above the river. One side is precipitous and the other steep, and the summit is walled all round with fortifications of varying age. The lower courses are in many places of huge, irregular stones, above this comes, at the main entrance, rubble and flat tiles set in plaster. On the right of the gate are the letters ' M.K.' and a cross in red tiles. These are believed to show that this part was built by Michael Komnenus, who founded the Despoty of Epirus in I202. The rest of the walls date from all or any of the intervening periods up to All Pasha's time. The Kastra has had an exciting existence. Here Skenderbeg besieged the Turks, and near here fell Muzaki, Lord of the Muzakija. Later Berat was the capital of Toskeria, and was ruled by Pashas who claimed descent from the Kastriot family, till the end of the eighteenth century. The last of them, Kurd Pasha, waged fierce war with Kara Mahmoud, Pasha of Skodra. The Tosks were defeated and lost very heavily. But Kurd survived his foe, who was killed by the Montenegrins, and lived to capture young Ali of Tepelen, then practising as the leader of a brigand band. But for Kurd's mercy there would have been no Ali Pasha. Kurd is reputed rich
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Title
The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham.
Author
Durham, Mary Edith, 1863-1944.
Canvas
Page 322
Publication
London :: Nelson,
[1905]
Subject terms
Eastern question (Balkan)
Balkan Peninsula -- Description and travel.

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"The burden of the Balkans / by M. Edith Durham." In the digital collection Travels in Southeastern Europe. https://name.umdl.umich.edu/ans3900.0001.001. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 30, 2025.
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