Rozafa Castle, Shkodër — the wife walled into the foundations

OVERVIEW

Rozafa Castle rises on a rocky hill 130 m above sea level in Shkodër, northwestern Albania, surrounded by the Buna and Drin rivers. It has been the scene of famous sieges, including those of 1478–79 and 1912–13. The castle and its surroundings form an Archaeological Park of Albania. The legend of its building, told orally by Albanians, is attested in 1505 by the humanist Marin Barleti.

HISTORY

Three brothers worked all day on a castle, but the walls fell every night. A wise old man told them the wife who brought their food the next day must be buried alive in the wall. The two elder brothers broke their oath and warned their wives; the youngest kept his besa. Rozafa, the youngest brother's wife, brought the basket, and accepted being immured, asking that a hole be left for her right eye, right hand, right foot and right breast, so that she could watch, comfort, rock and feed her small son: 'Let my breast turn to stone and the castle flourish.' A Serbian version, The Building of Skadar, was published by Vuk Karadžić in 1815.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

LEGEND. A foundation-sacrifice story told in Albanian, Serbian and other Balkan versions; the article records no sightings. The claim year is Barleti's 1505.

VISITING

Part of an Archaeological Park of Albania, in the city of Shkodër.