Drisht Castle

Drisht Castle, locally known as Kalaja e Drishtit, lies in the village of the same name, in the county of Shkodër in Albania.

Drisht Castle consists of an inner castle perched atop an 800-meter-high mountain. Its outer castle lies beneath it and holds a small settlement.

Drisht was already a settlement in Roman times, known as Drivastum. At those times, the inner castle probably served as the acropolis. During the 10th century, it became a Byzantine fortress. In the 14th century, it was an important fortification of the Serbian Principality of Zeta.

It was taken by the Venetians in 1448, who then rebuilt the castle. During the Ottoman siege of nearby Shkodër in 1478/9, Drisht was also taken by the Ottomans. The Ottomans probably had no further interest in the castle, and the inner castle was subsequently abandoned.

Today, the settlement in the outer castle counts only a handful of inhabited residences. The rest are ruined and overgrown.

Drisht Castle is freely accessible. That is to say, the outer castle is. The inner castle, also, but I could not find a clear route to it, although I tried, but I was defeated by the heat and the rough terrain. Too bad, the ruins looked nice through the drone.

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