History:
The City Stone is located in the city of Permet, 250 m above sea level. The City Stone is considered the symbol of the identity of the city. It has scientific (geological, geomorphological), didactic, ecological and cultural values.
The ruins of an ancient point of great archaeological value are preserved on the stone of Përmet.
Fortification, according to archaeologists, belongs to the 4th – 6th centuries. At the rock’s side is also preserved an ancient period tract, from the technique used resembling the fortifications of the 3rd century BC and rising further into the Drino Valley. The surface of the rock has donated a lot of ceramics belonging to late antiquity, but also to the middle ages.
According to sources, this fortification has been used as a signaling point for a military garrison, which had control of the Vjosa Valley. Using stone placement and its height, this point was essential for the safety of the entire area. The walls are isodomic, with blocks of limestone in quadrangle form, the cheeks are washed and the forehead flat.
According to the inhabitants, the chief lord of the province of Premti, who gave the name of the city, had built a castle on the Stone of the City. Today the castle is flattened. There are only walls left, evidence of legend. At the end of the 14th century, Sultan Mehmet’s Army came to invade Përmet. The lord of the city that had built the castle was dead and it was his grandson George who had power. He had a daughter, Dietra with a baby in his breast. When the Turks were in town, there was only his daughter in the castle. The Turks demanded the keys to the fort and the girl’s surrender. Dietra to not surrender to the Turks, took the cradle with the baby and jumped from the top of the rock. At the side of the City Stone, there is a polished stone where Dietra crashed. On the stone some marks: The hand of the baby or the lines of the cradle. That’s what the legend says.
