Fortification, transformations, disasters, a complex vicissitude for the Krujë Fortress in Albania

The Fortress of Krujë has its first settlements about the VI century AD, it was then reconstructed and expanded in time until the contemporary age. It was the strategic base during the Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg (1405-1468) rebellion against the Ottoman Empire (1443-1478), resisting three main sieges in 1450, 1466 and 1467. For being strategically involved in these intense historical events it stands in time as a symbol of the Albanian nation, gaining a specific importance during the Communist Regime (1944-1991) which brought to a series of restoration and integrations in the Eighties and to the construction of the Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu museum and of the Ethnographic Museums. The earthquake in 2019 caused some severe damages to the structure of the fortress opening large cracks on the main watchtower, in the cliff on which it stands and in the vault of the Bektashi Tekke (a religious building realized during the Ottoman period). Immediately after the disastrous event, a unit from the Department of Architecture, University of Florence conducted a specific terrestrial and aerial/UAV photogrammetric intervention to support the emergency operations on the monument. Exploiting a previous survey made by members of the same unit in 2017, it was possible to check the state of the vault of the Tekke with extreme accuracy discovering some surprising phenomena that brought to some rethinking about the impact of the shakes on the building itself. The present contribution will present the methods and procedures adopted for the intervention and the results obtained thanks to the matching with previous surveys, underlining once more the importance of appropriate digital documentation and how digital heritage may act as a safeguard for the real built heritage.