(from Turkish kule, a tower), a fortress house in the mountainous regions of the western Balkan Peninsula (Yugoslavia, Albania, and Greece).

The kula was a tall, mostly three-story building of roughhewn stone, with a four-sided roof of stone slabs or tiles and with thick walls (up to 1 m) having narrow loophole windows and hinged loopholes over the entrance door and at the corners. The kula was used as a fortress in military conflicts and sometimes served as a permanent dwelling. It appeared at the time of the disintegration of the clan system and became especially widespread in the feudal period.