During the
Second Macedonian War against the
Romans, the troops of
Phillip V and
Athenagoras of Macedon attempted to delay the Roman consul,
Titus Quinctius Flamininus. The Macedonians had secured the passage and then blocked the Roman advance in 198 BC. A shepherd is said to have led the Roman troops through the mountains, so that they could attack the
Macedonians in the narrow gorge of two sides and destroy them. The Macedonians had been decisively defeated a first time. Later, the Romans used the route through the gorge of modern Këlcyrë and built a small settlement. To control this passage, a castle was built in the 13th century. When the town was incorporated in the
Kingdom of Albania in the late 13th century it was ruled by the
Muzaka family. The correspondence of the
Roman Curia with the Albanian nobility indicates that in 1319 it was ruled by Count Mentul Muzaka. After its capture by the Byzantine army, the Albanian population rebelled against Byzantine rule in 1335 and captured the fortress of the town. In 1432 the town was captured by Albanian rebels who defeated and expelled the Ottomans from the area. The Turks advanced and built in the 19th century also a
seraglio. At this time Këlcyrë experienced its bloom as a key trading center between
Berat,
Korça and
Gjirokastra. The
capture of Klisura Pass (6–11 January 1941) was one of the most important victories of the Greek Army during the
Greek-Italian War. == Today ==