Rozafa Castle

Rozafa Castle or Shkodër Castle is a castle in the city of Shkodër, in northwestern Albania [1]. It rises imposingly on a rocky hill, 130 metres above sea level, surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers [1]. The hill was settled since the Early Bronze Age [1]. Nevertheless, the visible walls of the castle are mostly of Venetian construction [1]. Due to its strategic location, the hill had a prominent role in antiquity [1]. There was an Illyrian stronghold during the rule of the Labeates and Ardiaei, whose capital was Scodra [1]. Within the castle there are the ruins of a 13th-century Venetian Catholic church, considered by scholars as the St. Stephen's Cathedral, which after the siege of Shkodër in the 15th century, when the Ottoman Empire captured the city, was transformed into the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque [1]. The castle has been the site of several famous sieges, including the siege of Shkodër of 1478-79 and the siege of Shkodër of 1912-13 [1].