In August 2010 archaeologists discovered two Roman Era Illyrian graves near the walls of the castle of Elbasan. In the second century BC, a
Roman trading post recorded in
Latin as
Mansio Scampanear the site of modern Elbasan developed close to a junction of two branches of an important Roman road, the
Via Egnatia, which connected the
Adriatic coast with
Byzantium. It was one of the most important routes of the
Roman Empire. By the third or fourth century AD, this place had grown into a real city protected by a substantial Roman fortress with towers; the fort covered around 300 square meters. This city appears on late antique itineraries like the
Tabula Peutingeriana and
Itinerarium Burdigalense as
Scampis or
Hiscampis. It took part in the spread of
Christianity along the Via, and had a bishop, cathedral and basilicas as early as the fifth century. As a town in a wide river valley it was vulnerable to attacks once the legions were withdrawn but
Emperor Justinian made an effort to improve the fortifications. The city survived attacks by the
Bulgars and
Ostrogoths and was mentioned in the work of
Procopius of Cæsarea. Ruins of a Paleochristian basilica, built in the 5th or 6th century AD, were found in Bezistan area. The site seems to have been abandoned until the
Ottoman army built a military camp there, followed by urban reconstruction under
Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1466. Mehmet constructed a massive four-sided castle with a deep moat and three gates. The name Elbasan is thought to mean 'the flat fortress' in Albanian or 'the flat province' in Turkish. He had built the castle in order to fight
Skanderbeg, due to an
ongoing conflict between the Ottomans and Albanians. It became the seat of
Sanjak of Elbasan, a centre of Ottoman urban civilisation over the next 445 years. Although
Halil Inalcik explains that the Sanjak of Elbasan was established as soon as the
fortress of Elbasan was constructed in 1466, based on
Tursun Beg's records there is a possibility that Elbasan initially was part of the
Sanjak of Ohrid. In 1467 many Christians from
Skopje, Ohrid,
Serres and
Kastoria were forcibly deported to Elbasan. In the late 17th century, the Ottoman traveler
Evliya Çelebi passed through Elbasan and noted that "all the inhabitants speak Albanian" having knowledge of Turkish with Muslim clergy being literate in Persian, while merchants also used the Greek and "
Frankish" languages. By the end of the 17th century, it had 2,000 inhabitants. The fortress was dismantled by
Reshit Pasha in 1832.In 1864, the
Sanjak of Elbasan became a part of
Monastir Vilayet. In the late nineteenth century, Elbasan was inhabited by 3,000 Muslim families and 280 Orthodox Christian families, of which 100 were old Orthodox Albanian families living in the old Christian neighbourhood within the fortress and 180
Aromanian families residing in the St. Nicholas neighbourhood on the edge of town. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was estimated that 15,000 people lived in Elbasan. In 1909, after the
Young Turks revolution in
Istanbul, an
Albanian National Congress was held in Elbasan to study educational and cultural questions. The delegates, all from central and southern Albania, endorsed the decision of the
Congress of Monastir, which was held in Monastir (modern
Bitola, North Macedonia) to use the Latin alphabet rather than the Arabic script in written
Albanian. Albanians, Turks, Aromanians and
Sephardic Jews were living in Elbasan. Before the Second World War, Elbasan was a city with a mixture of eastern and medieval buildings, narrow cobbled streets and a large bazaar. There was a clearly defined Muslim settlement within the castle walls, an Aromanian district on the outskirts of the city and several fine mosques and Islamic buildings. At the time the population was about 15,000 people. The very first teachers' training college in Albania, the
Shkolla Normale e Elbasanit, was established in Elbasan. During
First Balkan War, it was occupied by
Serbian troops on 29 November 1912. They withdrew from Elbasan on 25 October 1913 due to United Kingdom and Austria Hungary's ultimatum. The Muslim majority of Elbasan opposed the installation of
Prince Wied in 1914. Elbasan was occupied successively by
Serbs,
Bulgarians,
Austrians and
Italians between 1915 and 1918. The Bulgarian army occupied Elbasan on January 29, 1916, during
Bulgarian occupation of Albania In March 1916 the army of Austria-Hungary took over control of Elbasan. From June 1916 to March 1917
Stanislav Kostka Neumann fought with the Austrian army there and called his war memoirs about the occupation in
Elbasan. Industrial development began in the
Zogist period when tobacco and
alcohol factories were established. The city was also noted for its good public buildings, advanced educational provisions, public gardens and timber-built shops. There was much wartime damage, which was followed by an intensive programme of industrial development in the
Communist period that boosted the city to around 75,000 inhabitants. The culmination of this process was the construction of the huge
Steel of the Party ()
metallurgical complex outside the city, in the
Shkumbini valley, built with Chinese assistance in the 1970s. It was emphatically called "The Second National Liberation of Albanian" by
Enver Hoxha. The cost of the complex in environmental impact was high for the Shkumbin valley.
Elbasan Railway Station was opened in 1950. In 2014, the Albanian government reconstructed former Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium. The renovated
Elbasan Arena became the home stadium of the
Albania national football team and Albania's de facto stadium meeting
FIFA's criteria. == Geography ==