father's land and unite all of Albania in 1444. A larger than life size statue of Skanderbeg adorns Dibër's centre, showing the fondness that the locals have for his cause. During the Ottoman-Albanian wars between 1443-1479 the Dibër region was the borderline between the Ottomans and the League of Lezhë led by Skanderbeg and became an area of continuous conflict. There were two major battles near Debar, on June 29, 1444 The Battle of Torvioll and on September 27, 1446 The Battle of Otonetë both ending with the defeat of the Ottoman armies and Albanian victories. Debar was overrun once again by the Turks, and became known as Debre. The city constantly rebelled against Turkish rule, however, not least because of the wealth of the many Turkish bey and aga who lived there off local taxes and the fat of the land. Turkish rule also brought trade to Debar and the city centre grew and became known for its crafts industry. Much of the architect from that period still survives. In the early 19th century, when Debar rebelled against the Turkish Sultan, the French traveller, publicist, and scientist Ami Boue observed that Debar had 64 shops and 4,200 residents. It was first a sanjak centre in Scutari Vilayet before 1877, and afterwards in Manastir Vilayet between 1877-1912 as Debre or Debre-i Bala ("Upper Debre" in Ottoman Turkish, as contrasted with Debre-i Zir, which was Peshkopi's Turkish name). In the late Ottoman period, Debre (Debar) was a town with 20,000 inhabitants, 420 shops, 9 mosques, 10 madrasas, 5 tekkes, 11 government run primary schools, 1 secondary school, 3 Christian primary schools and 1 church. An Ottoman army division was also stationed within the town. Debar was significantly involved in the national Albanian movement and on November 1, 1878 the Albanian leaders of the city participated in founding the League of Prizren. In 1907 the Congress of Dibra was held in the town, which made Albanian an official language within the Ottoman Empire. The congress allowed that Albanian be taught in schools legally for the first time within the Empire. Following the capture of the town of Debar by Serbia, many of its Albanian inhabitants fled to Turkey, the rest went to Tirana. Of those that ended up in Istanbul, some of their number migrated to Albania, mainly to Tirana where the Dibran community formed an important segment of the capital city's