Shkoder

• Skhoder or Shkodra is one of Albania's oldest cities, an important economic and cultural center with around 90,000 inhabitants. Skodra lies in the north-wester part of Albania, on southern part of the plain of Mbishkodra, next to the Shkodra Lake, between the confluence of Drim, Kiri and Bojana - Buna Rivers, the mountain of Tarabosh, and the Rozafa Castle.

  By the 7th century BC, the Illyrians (possible ancestors of the Albanian nation) settled in what is now Albania. Shkodra, known as Scodrinon, becomes the capital of the Illyrian empire in 181 BC. In 168 BC the Romans defeated the Illyrians and established the "Scutari" protectorate of Illyricum where the trade routes from the Danube River and the Aegean Sea converged. During the Roman Emperor Diocletian Shkodra became seat of the Prevalitane province (Praevalis), while after the division into the East and West Roman Empire (395) it had come under the Byzantine rule, and the part of the Durres thema (thema Dyrrachion). The Roman Empire was divided in 395 and the territory of today's Albania fall into the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire. When the Roman Empire split, Shkodra became important city of the Byzantine Empire. In the centuries that followed, this territory was invaded by the Huns, the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. The Byzantine Empire re-conquers the region several times. In the 11th century, Shkoder was transferred to Serbian lords from Zeta /today, Montenegro/, who developed the economy of the town and turned Shkodra into the center of Zeta state. Shkodra was then transferred to the Albanian family of Balshaj, feudal rulers of northern Albania and parts of Montenegro. Threatened by the Ottomans, the Balshaj sold the town to the Venetians in 1396 who renamed the town Scutari and reinforced the castle. The Ottomans invaded what is now Albania in 1385, finally capturing Shkodra in 1479. Their rule lasted more than 500 years. As Ottoman power wanes, Albanian feudal rulers called beys arise and flourish. Their holdings are merged into two semi-autonomous estates called pashalik. Shkodra is the centre of the Bushatllinje Pashalik, whose leader Mahmut Pasha etablishes an independent Albanian principate, only to be suppressed by the Ottoman Empire. In the middle of the 18th century intelectuals begun promoting teaching in Albanian /which was prohibited during the Ottoman reign/. After Russia defeated the Ottoman Empire, the provisional government was proclaimed in 1881 but was soon crushed by the Ottomans.

• During the Balkan Wars and World War I, Shkodra was besieged by Montenegrin and Serbian armies. The occupiers finally entered the town in April, 1913, and severely damaged the town and set the bazaar on fire. The Serbian and Montenegrin armies were compelled to leave in May, 1913, in accordance with the London Conference of Ambassadors, which alloted Shkodra to the new country of Albania. During World War I, Montenegrin forces once again entered Shkodra on June 27th, 1915. In January of 1916, Shkodra was captured by Austria-Hungary and was the center of the zone of their occupation. After World War I, the international military administration of Albania was temporarily located in Shkodra, and in March, 1920, Shkodra was put under the administration of the national government of Tirana. During World War II, the Shkodrans fought against the Italian forces, and they were later resisted with demonstrations and strikes. The resistance movement was organized by the communists, which later formed Partisan fighting units. The town of Shkodra was liberated from the Germans on November 19th, 1944.

  Shkodra now has 50,000 inhabitants and is a booming trade town, with six foreign consulates, a chamber of commerce and a bazaar with 2500 shops and 80 professions. The city of Skodra retains its characteristic appearance, with narrow streets with tall stone walls on both sides, and tall gates. The main street is characterized by two-storey houses, the facade often in gentle colours, with the second floor often lovely ornamented (and different to the first floor). A large part of it has been transformed after World War II, with straight wide streets and tall residential and public buildings. The city expanded with several new quarters, and the industrial zone was built north of the city. Some of the cultural monuments of Shkodra are the Castle of Shkodra (Rozafa), the Turkish Bath (hamam), Mesi Bridge, the Mosque of Plumbi, and many old houses with an appearance characteristic to Shkodra.

• The Rozafa fortress, dominating the town of Shkodra, is one of the most famous monuments in Albania. Built on a hill dominating the confluency of the rivers Buna/Bojana and Kiri, Rozafa Fortress has an oval shape, a perimeter of 600 m and an area of 6 ha. The Rozafa fortress and its seven towers were successively rebuilt by the Venitians and the Ottomans on the foundations of an early Illyrian fortress. The building of the fortress is related by Rozafa's legend. The three brothers in charge of the building noticed that their daily work was always destroyed during the next night; they were advized by an old man to wall up someone alive in order to calm down the demons that trashed their work. The brothers decided to sacrifice the first of their wives who would come the next day to bring their lunch. The two oldest brothers warned their wifes and Rozafa, the wife of the junior son, was sacrificed. She accepted it but asked for a small interstice to be made in the wall so that she could breast-feed her young son. Rozafa's fountain, indeed a seepage of calcareous water, can still be seen in the wall of the entrance gate of the fortress. It is a place of pilgrimage for pregnant women. This kind of legend is widespread in the Balkans and was illustrated by famous writers such as Ismail Kadare (The three-arched bridges) and Ivo Andrić (The bridge over the Drina).

• The city of Shkodra lies next to the lake and the residents use the beach of Shiroka for recreation.

• Few kilometers north of Shkodra there is the stone viaduct at Mes /village called Ura e Mesit/, where the Drin River divides the fields from the hillside of Drishti and the Cukali's highland. Mesi Bridge is over 100 meters long and was built about 1770 along the ancient trading road connecting Shkodra and Constantinople. The Mesi Bridge was constructed by Mehmet Pasha Bushatlliu, who governed his province wisely by ensuring that this important port region was able to develop extensive trade with the West. The Mesi Bridge made it possible to transport carriages and agricultural products from the farmers living in the highland areas to the Adriatic coast.The Mesi bridge is 3.4 meters wide and its track has the form of a staircase. The Mesi Bridge is Monument of culture monument and one of the biggest of its kind in Albania.

• Golden Byzantine Tour

• Macedonia and Albania Mountaineering