The Ottomans erected garrisons throughout southern Albania by 1415 and occupied most of Albania by 1431. In 1466 Mehmet II constructed on the Shkumbin River a massive castle, whereon he named Elbasan, meaning 'conquered country' in Turkish. It became the seat of Sanjak of Elbasan, a centre of Ottoman urban civilisation over the next 445 years. Even after the Ottoman occupation Elbasan remained a center of Islam in Albania.
