The history of the tower of Azem Galica

From the outside it looks like a tower of ancient times, made of stone and carrying a whole history with it. It has burned completely three times and has resisted over the years.

Although this tower that we see today, was rebuilt in 2010, after the last time it was burned in 1924, during the last resistance of Azem and Shote Galica.

This tower was built as a gift to Azem Galica, by fellow villagers. Even its special feature is that they built it for a month.

The first floor was made of stone, while the second floor was made of tiles, just to be finished as soon as possible, says historian Izet Miftari.

"Azemi has continuously decided not to surrender under any circumstances. Therefore, in this situation, most of the fellow combatants of the time formed an area, known in history as the neutral area of ​​Drenica, or rather small Arbria. The core of this area was precisely the village of Galicë.

In the attacks at the end of 1924, Azemi was injured, and after his injuries, he was forced to leave his hometown. His last words were two bequests he left to his comrades, says Miftari.

"This tower is in ruins, it was destroyed as a result of the heavy Serbian attack in 1924, when the government decided to destroy the free neutral zone, and in this case Azemi and his friends decided to resist, but in the face of large forces he was impossible to resist".

In every challenge he faced, he always had his wife, his friend and comrade-in-arms, Shote Galica, as his support.

And even a detail that many of us did not know, is that Shota had another name, but this name was given to her by her father, out of love and caress, since she had only one daughter, according to Miftari.

"There are many cases when Shota and Azmi have saved each other's lives. Shota was the only sister in the family, and her real name was Qerime Radisheva, but since she was the only sister out of love and affection, the name Shotë was given to her.

This tower continues to stand and preserve the entire history of Azemi and Shota. And on the walls of the tower, there are pictures of the warrior couple.