The settlement's origins date back to the
Roman city of Drivastum. Drivastum was first mentioned as a bishopric at the end of the 10th century. In 1184 the Serbian ruler
Stefan Nemanja conquered the city. After the collapse of the
Serbian Empire in the second half of the 14th century, Drisht became an independent city which minted its own coins with the inscription
Civitatis Drivasti. Between 1369 and 1396 Drisht was ruled by the
Balsha noble family, and then by the
Republic of Venice. After the city became part of the
Ottoman Empire in 1476, the population moved to Venetian possessions, and the settlement turned into a small village. The city walls attest to two main construction phases. The older one is dated to the 10th century, while the newer one to the 13th or 14th century. In the 15th century, in the Venetian period, further work was done to make the walls withstand artillery fire. The castle, nowadays in ruins, had an irregular ground plan. Towers were built only from the side of the city below, because on the opposite side there was a cliff which prevented access. The castle was initially built with three rectangular towers, to which a round tower was added later. At a later date one of the rectangular towers was repaired and made suitable for heavy artillery usage through loopholes. while the ruins of a trinoch church are found between the castle and the town. A museum building was built in recent years. The
Kir river nearby was spanned by a bridge, whose pillars in the riverbed can be seen when the water level is down. ==References==