Rozafa Castle

Rozafa stands on a rocky hill above the point where the Buna, Drin and Kir rivers meet outside Shkoder, fortified since Illyrian times, taken by Rome, held and rebuilt by Venice and then by the Ottomans after a long siege in 1478, so the walls are a mixture of periods enclosing a long triangular site with three courtyards, a church converted to a mosque, cisterns and a museum. The view is the main reward: Lake Shkoder to the north, the Buna running to the Adriatic, the mountains behind and the city below. The castle carries the legend of Rozafa, a woman walled into the foundations so the building would stand, who asked that one breast be left exposed to feed her child, and a stone in the wall is shown as the place.

The main sights

• Three courtyards along a ridge - Venetian and Ottoman walls on an Illyrian site.
• The river confluence view - Buna, Drin and Kir meeting below.
• Lake Shkoder to the north - the water and the mountains beyond.
• The Rozafa legend stone - the place named in the walling-in story.

When to go

April to October. Two to three hours. Late afternoon for light over the lake and the rivers. Summer midday is very hot with no shade on the ridge.

Things to know

There is no shade anywhere on the site and it is hot in summer. The museum is small. Interpretation is limited. The walk up from the road is steep. Vendors work the entrance.

Nearby

Shkoder is north-east; Lake Shkoder lies north.