Tepelena is a small town in southern Albania at the confluence of the Vjosa and Drino rivers, best known as the birthplace of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, the powerful Ottoman governor who ruled much of Albania and Greece in the early 19th century. Lord Byron visited in 1809 and described the experience in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.
The castle of Tepelena, Ali Pasha's fortress, still stands above the town. The setting — steep mountains on both sides, the river below — is dramatic, and the town makes a natural stop on the road between Gjirokastra and the coast.