Shkodër by car from Ulcinj: Rozafa, Marubi and Mesi Bridge

Mesi Bridge, or Ura e Mesit, is an old stone crossing over the Kir near Mes village. Built during the Ottoman period in the eighteenth century, it linked Shkodër with settlements in its mountainous hinterland. The 108-metre bridge has thirteen arches of different sizes, following the rocks and riverbed. The largest arch lifts the walkway well above the bank.

The side approach first reveals the whole structure. The stone surface is uneven, and the middle section rises noticeably towards the largest arch.

The landscape changes with the level of the Kir. After heavy rain the river gives the bridge a different setting from summer, when a broad dry riverbed with a smaller stream may remain beneath its arches.

The pedestrian street Kolë Idromeno is one of Shkodër’s recognisable city spaces. Named after a painter and artist from the town, it is lined with low-rise buildings containing shops, cafes and museum spaces.

On the approach stands Ebu Bekr Mosque, with its large dome and two minarets. It belongs to a more recent layer of the town than the fortifications at Rozafa and the older parts of the trading centre. The Orthodox Church of the Nativity is also nearby, while the walk to the Catholic cathedral continues through the town’s streets.

Marubi is the national museum of photography, developed from the studio Pietro Marubbi opened in Shkodër in 1856. The Italian painter and photographer settled here, and two further generations of photographers continued his work. The family studio became an archive that now holds around half a million negatives and material by other Albanian photographers. That figure describes the archive. Visitors see selected photographs and photographic objects in the exhibition.

Portraits, traditional clothing and scenes of public and family life are particularly revealing. A photograph invites attention to a person’s posture, a detail of dress or the way someone wished to be portrayed. Alongside historical events, it brings forward people who might remain faceless in an account focused on political history.

The permanent exhibition connects three generations through different parts of the photographic process. Pietro’s room presents the studio, with the setting and lighting used to make a portrait. The section devoted to Kel explains the darkroom and technical changes, including the move from glass plates to film. Gegë’s section introduces the archive and the preservation and organisation of images.

The Catholic Cathedral of St Stephen stands beside a square in central Shkodër. Its dedication continues an older local tradition, but it is distinct from the medieval Church of St Stephen inside Rozafa. The remains of that earlier church, later converted into a mosque, form part of the castle visit.

Kolë Idromeno’s work has an important place inside the present cathedral. His depiction of Our Lady of Shkodër connects the religious image with the town and local dress.

In 1967, during the state prohibition of religious life, the building was converted into a sports hall. Worship resumed in 1990.

The Lead Mosque was built in 1773-1774 for Mehmet Pasha Bushati, founder of the Bushati dynasty. It stands below Rozafa on the southern approach to Shkodër.

The name Xhamia e Plumbit comes from the lead covering of its domes. Beside the main prayer hall is an open courtyard surrounded by covered sections with a sequence of domes.

The restored mosque reopened in 2025. The reinstated lead dome coverings and minaret give a fuller picture of its Ottoman appearance. This is an active place of worship, so visit the interior and courtyard when the community is receiving visitors.

Rozafa stands on a rocky hill above Shkodër’s southern approach. Its position overlooking the town, lake and the Buna and Drin rivers gave it military and trading importance. Fortification began in antiquity, while the surviving structure developed through later rebuilding. Much of today’s walling dates from the Venetian period, alongside visible traces of Ottoman use.

The visit passes through the entrance defences and several courtyards. Surviving walls, gates and building remains show how defence, administration and religious life occupied different parts of the site. Among them is the Church of St Stephen, later converted into a mosque, whose surviving fabric shows a change of use within the same walls. The former Venetian administrative building houses the castle museum.

From the western side, you can see where the Buna and Drin meet. Lake Shkodër opens out to the north-west, while the town stretches north of the hill.

The castle’s name is linked with the story of Rozafa, a woman walled into the foundations to stop the walls built by three brothers from collapsing. It is a legend of sacrifice and a promise kept, rather than a verified event in the history of construction.