Shkoder Things to Do Tips by JLBG

Though the present day Rozafa castle was mainly built under the Venetians, its history starts since the Illyrian times. There is about the building of the castle a story that is found in various places in Europe, under various versions. It is about walling a living person in the wall either of a castle or of a bridge to allow its completion.

Here, three brothers were in charge of building the castle but each morning, what they had built the previous day had fallen down during the night. A wise man (devil ?) told them that if they walled in the castle the first woman coming to the castle next morning, then the walls would not fall down anymore but that they should not tell anybody. Every day, one of the wives would bring them their dinner. The two elder brothers told their wives not to come. The youngest did not and Rozafa, his wife was the one that came in. She begged that her bosom was let free in order to feed her little baby. The water that flows from the walls of the main entrance is saturated with minerals and has a milky look. Folk belief is that it is Rozafa's milk.

The castle his made of three following enclosures which makes the third impossible to get for the ennemies. I have drawn a small map that explains both how to reach the castle and how it is set.

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Rozafa castle stands on a rocky hill, a few kilometers south to Skhodėr, overlooking the Buna river.
If you enlarge the third photo, you will see a small building outside the walls of the castle. I have made an enlargement on the fourth photo, it is on the far right. Remember, there will be a photo of the inside of this watch place in another tip.

When driving from the city, we missed the first road that leads to the castle, on its northern side and arrived at the bridge on the Buna. As we had seen on the map that there was another road that began on the southern side of the castle, we made a U-turn and took a street that was following the base of the hill. It was paved and in good condition, between houses. After 100 m, it was not paved anymore and the surface became more and more rocky and stony. After a while, there was a first crossing, then a second. Of course, each time we stuck to the left. The street (road ? track ?) was now awfully rough and it required either a Mercedes or a 4WD to pass. If there has not been the castle on our left (that we could not see anymore !), we would have felt we were lost.

Anyhow, after another while, we arrived to a place where the trail went down to the city, while another trail on our right went away from the castle. There was apparently no way to go to the castle! Fortunately, there was a family building their house and we asked them our way. They made a strange circular sign that, at first did not meant anything for us. We finally understood that we had to drive to the right but that after 30 m, we should turn again on the right and that a kind of bridge passed over the street by which we had arrived! We were sure to be in the right direction!

We thought that way we had taken was the wrong one and that on our way down, directly to Shkodėr, the road surface would be better. It was not, it was even worse !

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This little church stands on the outskirts of Shkodra, along the road to Tirana and just where the second track that leads to Rozafa castle begins. It looks modern and I do not know its name. I am not an expert but I feel this is a Catholic church, which would make sense as in Albania, catholics are mostly found in the north, in and around Shkodra.

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The following way was a narrow ramp, paved with slippery cobblestones, very steep and with several hairpin bends! If you suffer from vertigo, close your eyes (unless you drive !). Most parts were too narrow to cross another vehicle. Fortunately, the only one that we met was while we were at a passing place (second photo).

The third photo shows one of the hair-pins and the landscape towards the north, on swamps along the Buna river.

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From the narrow ramp that climbs to Rozafa castle, the landscape is magnificent.

The first photo shows the city of Shkodėr in the plain and in the background, the mountains, that top at 2694 m.

The second photo shows the Buna river in the foreground with the bridge that we had to cross when we came from Ulcinj, Montenegro. The road from the Montenegrin border is on the left. The houses lined along the road, before the bridge, make almost a shanty town and seem to be inhabited by very poor people.

In the background, Likeni I Shkodres (Skadrarski Jezero for the Montenegrin). The mountains in the far background, on the left are in Montenegro. That is where clung the road that we followed when driving from Ulcinj to Virpazar along Skhadar lake (see my Veliki Ostros page)

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At first, we did not imagine that the road to Shkod?r could pass on that narrow wooden bridge on a metal frame and we went straight a little further. We found a very pleasant district with nice houses and what looked like a fancy restaurant with a terrace, behind a strong grid (see next tip).

As the road sign were too small for reading, I have enlarged them and put them together on the second photo. It says :

Lumi Buna : river Buna

Forbidden to horse drawn carts

Ndalohet gjuetia e peshkut mbi ur? : forbidden to hunt and to fish on the bridge)

The last one is really strange. It says :
Ndal Grumbullimit pa leje t? bimeve mjeksore
The translation that I was able to build with a dictionary seemed too odd and I could not believe it. I thank Edvin (VT Njonjo) for a guaranteed translation :
It's not allowed to gather medicinal plants

I really wonder what might be these medicinal plants growing on a bridge !

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The first photo was taken when we missed the bridge for Shkodėr and went on the road to Shiroka, a dead end. It was taken by the side of a fancy restaurant. The city of Shkodėr lies in the background. When we saw it, we understood that we had missed the bridge and went back.

The second photo was taken downstream on the Buna, near Zuės I Sipėrm and shows a fish trap made of wood and reeds. When it is activated, it allows to collect easily fishes that are lead into the trap. In the background, Rozafa castle stands on its hill. I have enlarged it on the third photo.

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The first photo was taken close to Muriqan, a small town 10 km from Shkodra and 2 km from the border. It shows in the background the Rumija (Montenegro) or Taraboshit (Albania) ridge with the road that we followed when driving along Skadrarski Jezero (see my Veliki Ostros page). If you enlarge it, you can clearly see the road.

Look at the point where it reaches the ridge, before going on the other side. This is from where was taken the second photo. Shkodra cannot be seen but must be in the plain, at the end of the ridge while Muriqan (not seen neither) should be in the foreground, on the right, out of the frame ! Sorry !

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But this was a digression from the landscape seen from the ramp leading to Rozafa castle, let us go back to the ramp.

After three or four hair pins, we saw in front of us a narrow entrance and I felt it was too narrow for our car. Because the road was so narrow, we would have to go backwards to the next hair pin, where we might perhaps turn back, or may be we would have to go, still backwards to the next one?
But there appeared suddenly from the shadow of the entrance a man that made great arm signs telling to go ahead. We had to unfold both wing mirrors and we could come into the castle. The entrance was indeed a couple of centimeters wider than the car ! Inside and before the second gate (that was impossible to pass for a car), there were at least three or four parking spaces, which was enough as we were alone!

We had to pay a little fee for the entrance. Sorry, I do not remember how much but that was not much.

The first photo shows the entrance gate from the inside.

The second photo was taken a little further, once we were parked and you can see the entrance gate in the background. This IS the parking lot and there is no other one!

Warning

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*(I will repeat under warning of dangers) : do not drive to Rozafa castle with small car (too low for the stones and bumps on the road), with a camper or a Hummer (too wide for the entrance)

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The first photo shows the second entrance gate, from the inside.

The second photo shows the first yard of Rozafa castle and the path that leads to the inner yards.

The third photo shows the view on Shkodėr that appears behind the castle wall. For a better view, you have to climb the staircase on the right. Caution, no railing !

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