Rozafa Castle

Rozafa Castle
Shkodër, in northwestern Albania

Rozafa castle
Rozafa Castle
Coordinates 42°02′47″N 19°29′37″E / 42.0465°N 19.4935°E / 42.0465; 19.4935
Site information
Controlled by Illyrian tribes
Roman Empire
 Byzantine Empire
Duklja
Serbian Grand Principality
 Kingdom of Serbia
 Serbian Empire
Zeta
 Republic of Venice
 Ottoman Empire
 Kingdom of Montenegro
Great Powers
 Albania
Open to
the public		 Yes
Site history
Materials Limestone, brick

Rozafa castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Rozafës) is a castle near the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 metres above sea level, surrounded by the Bojana and Drin rivers. Shkodër is the capital of the Shkodër County, and is one of Albania's oldest and most historic towns, as well as an important cultural and economic centre.

History

Due to its strategic location, the hill has been settled since antiquity. It was an Illyrian stronghold until it was captured by the Romans in 167 BC.[1] The 19th-century German author and explorer Johann Georg von Hahn suggested that the ancient and medieval city of Shkodër was located immediately south of the Rozafa hill, between the hill and the confluence of Buna and Drin. The fortifications, as they have been preserved to date, are mostly of Venetian origin.[2] The castle has been the site of several famous sieges, including the siege of Shkodra by the Ottomans in 1478 and the siege of Shkodra by the Montenegrins in 1912. The castle and its surroundings form an Archaeological Park of Albania.[3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rozafa.
  1. ↑ A. Evans et al., Ancient Illyria: An Archaeological Exploration, 2006, p 83
  2. ↑ J.G. von Hahn, Albanesische Studien, Jena 1854, pp 94-96.
  3. ↑ Jürgen (2002-09-30). Albanian identities: myth and history. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34189-1. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
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