Tower houses in the Balkans

Tower houses (singular: Albanian: kullë; Bosnian: odžak Bulgarian: кули, kuli; Serbian: кула, Romanian: culă) developed and were built since the Middle Ages in the Balkans,[1] particularly in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro,[2] but also in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia and Serbia, as well as in Oltenia, in Romania.

Mid-19th century studies pointed out that all the men – almost without exception – who build walls, fell trees and saw lumber in the European part of the Ottoman Empire and in the Kingdom of Greece, were from Albania, specifically from mountainous regions.

For metal work Balkan Egyptians were contracted, and specific fortification features were sometimes left to stone mason specialists from the Adriatic coast.

[7] Kullas are heavily fortified buildings with small windows and shooting holes, because their main purpose was to offer security in a fighting situation.

Certain kullë were used as places of isolation and safe havens, or "locked towers" (Albanian: kulla ngujimi), intended for the use of persons targeted by blood feuds (gjakmarrja).

There used to be over three hundred such facilities in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and today there are over forty villages and hamlets named Kula and twelve Kulina, thirty-one settlements are called Odžak, four Odžaci and one Odžačina.

[10] Local feudal lords of the Ottoman era built these stone multi-storey towers on their estates with a defensive and housing purpose.

[13] The tower in Teshovo in south Pirin, noted for its relatively sophisticated water conduit and sewage system, is also thought to date to the early Ottoman rule of Bulgaria and may well have been the residence of a local bey.

[17] Although the Ottoman-period architecture has almost completely disappeared from Greek urban centres, there are scattered examples of tower houses built in Ottoman Greece and during the chifliks.

These openings served a dual purpose: they allowed for limited natural light and ventilation while acting as defensive loopholes from which inhabitants could repel attacks.

[20] The fortress-like design of kullas was a response to the frequent conflicts and blood feuds (gjakmarrja) that characterized life in the Balkans during the Ottoman period.

Preservation initiatives by organizations such as the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports of Kosovo, as well as international projects like Ilucidare, aim to document and protect these unique structures.