The origins of the castle date to the 300 BC, and as with any structure that old, it has been added to and renovated several times over the last 2,400 years! But the thick walls will last for a long time yet.
It's probably the busiest tourist attraction that we have visited since we've been in Albania.
We are headed up there!
While we are headed up, crowds of young people are headed down.
We got lucky, and our timing was actually perfect. There were two or three big tour buses, and several smaller ones at the base of the road leading up, so we figured it would be busy. But the big groups were just leaving.
Ruth and the view.
Entrance to the castle.
It cost 400 lek ($4.75 CAD, $4.00 USD) per adult to get in.
Big thick walls.
Lots of places to explore.
We love that there is very little out of bounds and that you are free to explore most areas, using only your own best judgement to decide what is safe and what is not.
Great views from the castle.
Looking back at the city of Shkodra.
Remains of the Cathedral.
Old castle walls.
Looking back at the city.
Interesting plant growing out of the wall.
Long grass.
There are 7 different viewpoints from the castle property.
Ruth, inside the Cathedral, built in the 13th century.
Ruth, looking down the cistern.
Hey, there's an RV park down there.
This will be us soon. We hope!
Another view.
Me, exploring the "secret exit".
You could go quite far down, but it got pretty black in there!
Flag of Albania. It was pretty breezy up there at times.
Carved into the stone about 12' up.
Walking down from the castle, this fellow was singing and playin the accordion.
His playing was good. The singing, not so much!
We are only 1,906 kms from Berlin!
Scenery along the way.
Our Airbnb host told us that this is a Roma (Gypsy) community.
We walked by another area that looked like a slum... far worse than this one.
Lots of people ride bikes in Shkodra.
We ended up walking about 11 kms (6.8 miles). It was a good day!
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Record low deal on the Solo Stove Bonfire Pit.
And in Canada...
Glad I figured this site out. Enjoyed your post. Love that castle!
ReplyDeleteWe are glad that you did too. :-)
DeleteThe castle was very interesting but we went up mostly for the views which were fantastic from up there.
Hello Ruth and Kevin - thank you for the beautiful pictures of Albania. How long do you plan on touring around Albania ? Any plans to see Orikum and surrounding area. We ( my wife and I ) are planning an Albanian trip for next year.
ReplyDeleteKevin and Debbie
Ottawa, Ontario Canada
Hi there Kevin and Debbie, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. We are happy to hear that you are enjoying our pictures and posts on Albania. We have been touring around Albania now for just over two months and have about three weeks left. We spent a week in Vlorë last month which is just a little north of Orikum, however we didn't actually spend any time in Orikum itself just the surrounding area. We did enjoy the area though and although we saw a fair bit around there, we know that there was still so much more to see.
DeleteI hope that you will find our posts helpful with planning your trip and if you have any questions don't hesitate to reach out to us. We have been loving our time here and hope that you will enjoy Albania as much as we are. :-)
Just look at all those crazy electrical lines every which way???
ReplyDeleteYep, this is pretty much just like it is in Mexico too! I would not want to be an electrician here!
DeleteOh my! Such beautiful views from the castle. That property is quite large but well kept. You had a perfect day to explore 😊
ReplyDeleteThe views were fantastic from the castle, you could see well from every direction, I guess that is why they built the castle up there! :-)
DeleteIt seemed like much of the castle was still in it's original condition, without much done in restorative work but you could certainly tell that many buildings inside the castle never made it. as you could only make out the foundations of many of them but the castle walls almost looked untouched.
Stunning old castle! Looks like you had fun exploring
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't a lot of the castle left except for the walls mostly but it still made for a good time exploring all the nooks and crannies and the views from up there were fantastic. :-)
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