Tepelenë is the principal settlement in the eponymous Tepelenë District of southern Albania. It is located on the left bank of the Vjosë river, about three kilometers downstream from its union with the Drino.
Its location is strategically important and there is a ruined citadel occupying a point 300 meters above the river. Ali Pasha was born at the nearby village of Beçisht. In 1847, the British writer Edward Lear visited the town and noted the devastated
