Albania · 15th century
The Rodoni Castle or Skanderbeg Castle (Albanian: Kalaja e Rodonit; Kalaja e Skënderbeut) is a castle in Albania. Rodoni Castle is at an elevation of 1 metre (3 ft).
Rodoni Castle is on the Cape of Rodon. After the victorious First Siege of Krujë the League of Lezhë decided to increase the fortifications for use against the Ottoman Empire. Skanderbeg chose the cape of Rodon as the location of the castle and construction began in 1450. The walls of the castle that was completed in approximately 1452 had a length of 400 metres (1,300 ft).
When the Siege of Krujë started in 1466 Skanderbeg retreated to Rodoni Castle from where he and his family, together with many people from Albania, were transported to Brindisi in 14 ships. According to Marin Barleti this castle was destroyed by Ottoman forces in 1467.
In 1500 the castle was rebuilt by the Republic of Venice. As a result of the corrosive action of the sea waves, some of the walls are now under the waters of the Adriatic. Today the visitors can see the outer walls on the right side and the tower at the place they intersect.
Text adapted from “Castle of Rodon” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Rodoni Fortress ranks #4,111 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #17 of the 27 mapped in Albania. Founded 1450, it is older than 47% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 554 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Durrës, 30 km away. See how Albania compares in the castle statistics.
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