As we drove from Tirana, Albania, to Budva, Montenegro, on May 8, 2026, we stopped at two stone castles, high in the mountains.
Krupa was the center of Albanian resistance to the Ottomans, in the 15th century. It was here that the Albanian hero, Skanderberg, fought off the Ottomans for a generation, before they finally conquered the country.
Near the castle was an "Ethnographic Museum", in a vintage, Turkish-style house. There were displays inside of typical professions under Ottoman Albania, such as milling and agriculture, as well as clothes, furnishings, and textiles.
I never tire of Turkish design.
Our second castle of the day was at Rozafa, above the city of Shkodra. Shkodra is one of Europe's oldest cities, dating back to Illyrian times, before Rome.
We looked down from the castle at the city of Shkodra and at a river that drained into the nearby Adriatic Sea.
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