Caen vs Kruje

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Caen (, French: [kɑ̃] (listen); Norman: Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 108,365 inhabitants (as of 2012), while its urban area has 420,000, making Caen the largest city in former Lower Normandy. It is also the third largest municipality in all of Normandy after Le Havre and Rouen and the third largest city proper in Normandy, also after Rouen and Le Havre. The metropolitan area of Caen, in turn, is the second largest in Normandy after that of Rouen, the 21st largest in France. It is located 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) inland from the English Channel, 200 kilometres (120 miles) north-west of Paris, and connected to the south of England by the Caen (Ouistreham) to Portsmouth ferry route.

Caen is located in the centre of its northern region, and it is a centre of political, economic and cultural power. Located a few miles from the coast, the landing beaches, the bustling resorts of Deauville and Cabourg, as well as Norman Switzerland and Pays d'Auge, Caen is often considered the archetype of Normandy. Caen is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried there, and for the Battle for Caen, heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the city. The city has now preserved the memory by erecting a memorial and a museum dedicated to peace, the Mémorial de Caen.

Source: Wikipedia

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Krujë (definite Albanian form: Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was inhabited by the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Albani. In 1190 Krujë became the capital of the first Albanian state in the middle ages, the Principality of Arbër. Later it was the capital of the Kingdom of Albania, while in the early 15th century Krujë was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, but then recaptured in 1443 by Skanderbeg, leader of the League of Lezhë, who successfully defended it against three Ottoman sieges until his death in 1468. The Ottomans took control of the town after the fourth siege in 1478, and incorporated it in their territories.

A 1906 local revolt against the Ottoman Empire was followed by the 1912 Declaration of Independence of Albania. In the mid-1910s Krujë was one of the battlefields of the conflict between the short-lived Republic of Central Albania, founded by Essad Toptani, and the Principality of Albania. In 1914 Toptani managed to seize the town but during the same year it was reincorporated by Prênk Bibë Doda in the Principality of Albania. During World War II it was the centre of the activities of resistance leader Abaz Kupi. The museums of Krujë include the Skanderbeg Museum, located in the environs of the Krujë Castle, and the national ethnographic museum.

Source: Wikipedia