Rozafa Castle

Rozafa Castle, locally known as Kalaja e Rozafës, lies south of the town of Shkodër, in the county of Shkodër in Albania.

The castle is situated on a rocky hill at the confluence of the Buna and Drin rivers, near the shore of Lake Skadar, in a strategic position. Already in the 4th-3rd century B.C., a citadel was erected here by the Illyrians, who had their capital at Scodra/Scutari (ancient Shkodër). That fortification was probably used successively by the Roman and the Byzantine empires.

A famous legend has it that the castle was built by 3 brothers. But while building during the day, the walls would collapse again every night. An old man then told them that to be able to finish the castle, they would have to immure the wife of one of them, the one who would bring them food the next day. They were not to tell their wives and let fate decide. Two of the brothers did tell their wives, and as a result, the wife of the 3rd brother was to be immured. She didn't protest, but as she had a little son to care for, she only requested to leave several holes in the wall. For her right eye, to be able to cheer him up, for her right hand, to be able to comfort him, for her right breast to be able to wean him, and for her right foot to be able to rock his cradle.

At the end of the 14th century, the area came under Venetian rule. During the 15th century, the Ottomans increased their efforts to conquer the lands along the eastern Adriatic coast, as they planned to invade Italy. To counter that threat, the Venetians formed a pact with the League of Lëzhë, a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, in the mid-15th century. Near the end of the First Ottoman-Venetian War (1463–1479), the Ottomans laid siege to Rozafa Castle, which had already been considerably strengthened by the Venetians. The very bloody siege started in May 1478, only to end with a peace agreement in April 1479. As part of that agreement, Rozafa was ceded to the Ottomans.

The castle remained in Ottoman hands until 1913, when they were forced to surrender after the Siege of Scutari, a 6-month-long siege of the castle by the Balkan League. The Balkan League consisted of Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria, which had jointly declared war against the Ottoman Empire.

The castle has an irregular plan as its walls follow the shape of the hill. What we see of the castle today is mainly of Venetian construction. The castle has 3 baileys. In the 2nd bailey stands a ruined church, built by the Venetians but later converted into a mosque by the Ottomans.

Rozafa Castle was freely accessible when I visited, although I did see a closed ticket booth. An extensive ruin in an impressive location.

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