This year, our Prime minister Edi Rama 
in Tirana, Albania decided to call The Year of Skenderbeg (is a nationwide commemorative year in Albania which coincides with the 550th anniversary of the death of the Albanian national hero, Skanderbeg.) If you will ever have a chance to visit Tirana, you will see the monument of Skanderbeg in the middle of Skanderbeg square. The statue represents the Albanian national hero George Kastrioti Skanderbeg riding his horse in battle, commemorating his bravery against the Ottoman Empire, as leader of the federation of the League of Lezhë.
George Kastriot Skanderbeg was born on 6 May 1405 and closed his eyes on January 17, 1468. His name connects a whole historical era for arbnore lands. George Kastrioti was the most consistent and prominent representative of the Albanian elite who led the Albanian front of the war against the Ottoman Empire, in what is today Albania and Macedonia. Skanderbeg always signed himself as Lord ofAlbania, and claimed no other titles but that in official documents. He realized the first political union of the Albanian princes of the time of Lezha Assembly in early March 1444, which paved the way for the establishment of a medieval Albanian state.
After his death, Albania was occupied by the Ottomans, but Skanderbeg’s legacy preserved the Albanian national identity throughout 500 years of Ottoman rule. Albanians consider him not only the father of their nation, but also the man who saved all Europe from the Ottoman Empire. The statue was unveiled in 1968, exactly 500 years after Skanderbeg’s death.
From European countries, Skanderbeg is considered to be the patron of Christianity.
PS: This year the logo of official administrative documents will be changed and the logo of The Year of Skanderbeg will be added.
