The year · August is underlined
| Region | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lëkurësi Castle |
Getting there
car. On the hill directly above Sarandë at roughly 225 m, up a road that switchbacks out of the town. It is a short drive and a long walk.
Parking: Beside the castle, and it fills at sunset in summer.
Photography
Best light: sunset, blue.
It faces west over the strait, so this is a sunset site and everyone knows it. The walls themselves photograph better in the morning with nobody on them. Check drone requirements with the AAC before travelling.
Drone: not confirmed. Albania's registration requirement is reported differently by every secondary source, so verify with the AAC before you fly.
Lëkurësi was built in 1537 by Suleiman the Magnificent, to defend against the Venetians. It is almost square, with two round towers at opposite corners, and its southern and eastern sides are the best preserved parts of it.
The position explains the building. From here you control Sarandë, Butrint and the Straits of Corfu at once, along with the whole town and the Ksamil islands, which in 1537 was a military fact and is now the reason a road full of cars comes up the hill every evening in August.
Nearby
AI imageSarandëThe south's port and its practical base: ferries from Corfu, Butrint and Ksamil within half an hour, and a waterfront that fills in July.
AI imageButrintA Greek, Roman, Venetian and Ottoman site stacked on one wooded peninsula between a lagoon and the channel to Corfu.
AI imageKsamilFour small islets in shallow turquoise water, and the most crowded and most expensive stretch of sand in Albania.