Early history The earliest signs of human activity in the lands of Shkodër can be traced back to the
Middle Paleolithic (120,000–30,000 years ago). Artifacts and faunal remains provide evidence that the first inhabitants of the area of Shkodër were Pleistocene hunter-gatherers. Presence of
Neolithic farmers is also testified by artifacts. The
Copper and Early
Bronze Ages constitute an important watershed for the social evolution on the territories of the eastern
Adriatic coast, including Shkodër, with the formation of new cultures and the beginning of new complex historical, ethnogenetic and cultural processes. This period represents for Shkodër the first step of a process of occupation and development. The inhabitants of the intensively settled Shkodër basin produced pottery, practiced agriculture, and manufactured metal tools. Shkodra's Early Bronze Age culture bears many similarities with the culture of the Eastern Adriatic coast and its hinterland, like the
Cetina culture, and it also has connections with the Early Bronze Age culture of
Maliq in southeastern Albania. During the developed Early Bronze Age the new practice of
tumulus burials appears, which may be associated to
Indo-European migrations from the steppes. During the Middle and Late Bronze Age the settlements in the region and extraregional interactions apparently increased. In the Late Bronze Age the inhabitants of Shkodra basin had contacts with Italy or northwest Greece. By the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age ( 1100–800 BC), the formation of a large, cohesive, and quite homogeneous cultural group had already occurred in a well defined territory of the Shkodra region, which was referred in historical sources to as 'the tribe of the
Labeatae' in later times. The favorable conditions on the fertile
plain, around the
lake, have brought people here in early antiquity. Artefacts and inscriptions, discovered in the
Rozafa Castle, are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans in the city. Although, it was known under the name Scodra and was inhabited by the
Illyrian tribes of the
Labeates and
Ardiaei, which ruled over a large territory between modern Albania up to Croatia. King
Agron, Queen
Teuta and King
Gentius, were among the most famous personalities of the
Ardiaei. The city was first mentioned during antiquity as the site of the Illyrian Labeates in which they minted coins and that of Queen Teuta. In 168 BC, the city was captured by the
Romans and became an important trade and military route. The
Romans colonized the town. Scodra remained in the province of
Illyricum and, later,
Dalmatia. By it 395 AD, it was part of the
Diocese of Dacia, within
Praevalitana. After the split of the Roman Empire, Shkodra was taken by the Byzantines. In the early 11th century,
Jovan Vladimir ruled
Duklja amidst the war between
Basil II and Samuel. Vladimir allegedly retreated into
Koplik when Samuel invaded Duklja and was subsequently forced to accept Bulgarian vassalage. He was later slain by the Bulgarians. Shingjon (feast of Jovan Vladimir) has since been celebrated by Albanian Orthodox Christians. from the 15th century in
Venice In the 1030s,
Stefan Vojislav from
Travunija, then part of
Medieval Serbia, expelled the last
strategos and successfully defeated the Byzantines by 1042. Stefan Vojislav set up Shkodër, as his capital.
Constantine Bodin accepted the
crusaders of the
Crusade of 1101 in Shkodër. After the dynastic struggles in the 12th century, Shkodër became an integral part of the Serbian
Nemanjić Zeta province. In 1214 the city was briefly annexed to
Despotate of Epirus under
Michael I Komnenos Doukas. In 1330,
Stefan Dečanski, King of Serbia, appointed his son
Stefan Dušan as the governor of Zeta with its seat in Shkodër. In the same year Dušan and his father entered the conflict which resulted with campaign of Dečanski who destroyed Dušan's court on
Drin River near Shkodër in January 1331. In April 1331, they made a truce, but in August 1331 Dušan went from Shkodër to Nerodimlje and overthrew his father. During the disintegration of the
Serbian Empire, Shkodër was taken by the Albanian
Balshaj family, who surrendered the city to the
Republic of Venice in 1396, in order to form a protection zone from the
Ottoman Empire. During the Venetian rule the city adopted the
Statutes of Scutari, a civic law written in
Venetian. The
Statutes of Scutari mention
Albanian and
Slavic presence in the city, but under
Venetian rule many
Dalmatians were brought to Shkodra and as such formed the majority there. After the
Black Death killed most of the inhabitants Albanians and Slavs formed the majority in the city. Venetians built the ''St. Stephen's Church'' (later converted into the
Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque by the Ottomans) and the
Rozafa Castle. In 1478-79 Mehmed the conqueror laid siege on Shkodër. In 1479 the city fell to the Ottomans and the defenders of the citadel emigrated to Venice, while many Albanians from the region retreated into the mountains. On the other hand the upper classes of the city, aided by the
Jonima family settled in the cities of
Ravena,
Venice and
Treviso. The city then became a seat of a newly established Ottoman sanjak, the Sanjak of Scutari.
Ottoman period was built in 1770 and is one of the longest Ottoman bridges in the region. With two
sieges, Shkodër became secure as an Ottoman territory. It became the centre of the
sanjak and by 1485 there were 27 Muslim and 70 Christian hearths, although by the end of the next century there were more than 200 Muslim ones compared to the 27 Christian ones, respectively. Military manoeuvres in 1478 by the Ottomans meant that the city was again entirely surrounded by
Ottoman forces.
Mehmed II personally laid
the siege. About ten heavy cannons were cast on site. Balls as heavy as were fired on the citadel (such balls are still on display on the castle museum). Nevertheless, the city resisted. Mehmed left the field and had his commanders continue the siege. By the winter the
Ottomans had captured one after the other all adjacent castles:
Lezhë,
Drisht and
Žabljak Crnojevića. This, together with famine and constant bombardment lowered the morale of defenders. On the other hand, the Ottomans were already frustrated by the stubborn resistance. The castle is situated on a naturally protected hill and every attempted assault resulted in considerable casualties for the attackers. A truce became an option for both parties. On January 25 an agreement between the Venetians and the
Ottoman Empire ended the siege, permitting the citizens to leave unharmed, and the Ottomans to take over the deserted city. : Albanians smoking by the river
Drin, with the
Rozafa Castle and the
Lead Mosque in the background, 4 October 1848 After Ottoman domination was secure, much of the population fled. Around the 17th century, the city began to prosper as the centre of the
Sanjak of Scutari (
sanjak was an Ottoman administrative unit smaller than a
vilayet). It became the economic centre of northern Albania, its craftsmen producing fabric, silk, arms and silver artifacts. Construction included two-storey stone houses, the
souk, and the Mesi Bridge (
Ura e Mesit) over the Kir river, built during the second half of the 18th century, over long, with 13 arcs of stone, the largest one being wide and tall. in 1867 Shkodër was a major city under Ottoman rule in southeast Europe. It retained its importance up until the end of the empire's rule in the Balkans in the early 20th century. This is due to its geo-strategic position that connects it directly with the
Adriatic and with the Italian ports, but also with land-routes to the other important Ottoman centre, namely
Prizren. The city was an important meeting place of diverse cultures from other parts of the Empire, as well as influences coming westwards, by Italian merchants. It was a centre of
Islam in the region, producing many
ulama, poets and administrators, particularly from the
Bushati family. In the 18th century Shkodër became the centre of the (
pashaluk) of Shkodër, under the rule of the
Bushati family, which ruled from 1757 to 1831. In 1737, 178 Catholic families were recorded in Shkodër, all of them Albanian. Shkodër's importance as a trade centre in the second half of the 19th century was owed to the fact that it was the centre of the
vilayet of Shkodër, and an important trading centre for the entire Balkan peninsula. It had over 3,500 shops, and clothing, leather, tobacco and gunpowder were some of the major products of Shkodër. A special administration was established to handle trade, a trade court, and a directorate of postage services with other countries. Other countries had opened consulates in Shkodër ever since 1718.
Obot and
Ulcinj served as ports for Shkodër, and, later on,
Shëngjin (
San Giovanni di Medua). The
Jesuit seminary and the
Franciscan committee were opened in the 19th century. Following the rebellion of
Mustafa Pasha Bushatlliu Shkodër was sieged by the Ottomans for more than six months who finally managed to break the Albanian resistance on 10 November 1831. In 1833 around 4,000 Albanian rebels seized the town again holding off the Ottoman forces between April and December and even sending a delegation to Istanbul until the Ottoman government finally gave in to their terms giving an end to the rebellion. Before 1867 Shkodër (İşkodra) was a
sanjak of
Rumelia Eyalet in
Ottoman Empire. In 1867, Shkodër sanjak merged with
Skopje (Üsküp) sanjak and became
Shkodër vilayet. Shkodër vilayet was split into Shkodër,
Prizren and
Dibra sanjaks. In 1877, Prizren passed to
Kosovo vilayet and
Debar passed to
Monastir vilayet, while
Durrës township became a sanjak. In 1878
Bar and
Podgorica townships belonged to
Montenegro. Ottoman-Albanian intellectual
Sami Frashëri during the 1880s estimated the population of Shkodër as numbering 37,000 inhabitants that consisted of three quarters being Muslims and the rest Christians made up of mostly Catholics and a few hundred Orthodox. In 1900, Shkodër vilayet was split into Shkodër and
Durrës sanjaks.
Modern Shkodër played an important role during the
League of Prizren, the Albanian liberation movement. The people of Shkodër participated in battles to protect Albanian land. The branch of the League of Prizren for Shkodër, which had its own armed unit, fought for the protection of
Plav,
Gusinje,
Hoti and
Gruda, and the war for the protection of Ulcinj. The Bushati Library, built during the 1840s, served as a centre for the League of Prizren's branch for Shkodër. Many books were collected in libraries of
Catholic missionaries working in Shkodër. Literary, cultural and sports associations were formed, such as
Bashkimi ("The Union") and
Agimi ("The Dawn"). The first Albanian newspapers and publications printed in Albania came out of the printing press of Shkodër. The Marubi family of photographers began working in Shkodër, which left behind over 150,000 negatives from the period of the Albanian liberation movement, the rise of the Albanian flag in
Vlorë, and life in Albanian towns during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. During the
Balkan Wars, Shkodër went from one occupation to another, when the Ottomans were defeated by the
Kingdom of Montenegro. The Ottoman forces led by
Hasan Riza Pasha and Esad Pasha had resisted for seven months the siege of the town by Montenegrin forces and their Serbian allies.
Esad (Hasan had previously been mysteriously killed by
Essad Toptani in an ambush inside the town) finally surrendered to Montenegro in April 1913, after Montenegro suffered a high death toll with more than 10,000 casualties.
Edith Durham also notes the cruelties suffered at the hand of Montenegrins in the wake of October 1913: "Thousands of refugees arriving from Djakovo and neighbourhood. Victims of Montenegro. My position was indescribably painful, for I had no funds left, and women came to me crying: 'If you will not feed my child, throw it in the river. I cannot see it starve.'" Montenegro was compelled to leave the city to the new country of
Albania in May 1913, in accordance with the
London Conference of Ambassadors. During
World War I, Montenegrin forces again occupied Shkodër on 27 June 1915. In January 1916, Shkodër was taken over by
Austria-Hungary and was the centre of the zone of their occupation. When the war ended on 11 November 1918, French forces occupied Shkodër as well as other regions with sizable Albanian populations. After World War I, the international military administration of Albania was temporarily located in Shkodër, and in March 1920, Shkodër was put under the administration of the national government of Tirana. In the second half of 1920, during the
Serbian-Albanian War, Shkodër resisted the Serbian invasion under the lead of
Sylço Bushati and financial aid provided by notable figures such as . Shkodër was the centre of democratic movements of the years 1921–1924. The democratic opposition won the majority of votes for the Constitutional Assembly, and on 31 May 1924, the democratic forces took over the town and from Shkodër headed to Tirana. From 1924 to 1939, Shkodër had a slow industrial development, small factories that produced food, textile and cement were opened. From 43 of such in 1924, the number rose to 70 in 1938. In 1924, Shkodër had 20,000 inhabitants, the number grew to 29,000 in 1938. During September 1928, Albania was proclaimed a monarchy by
King Zog I. He was a self-made Muslim monarch and the king of all Albanians until 1939 when Italy
invaded Albania, Shkoder resisted under the lead of Mehmet Ullagaj but fell soon afterwards. After 1939, Zog went into exile and
Victor Emmanuel III became the king of the Albanians. Shortly after World War II, Emmanuel was formally abdicated in 1946. After the Italian withdrawal from Albania in 1943, the city fell under
Nazi German control. Shkodër remained in their hands until 29 November 1945, when it was liberated by the
National Liberation Movement during
their counter-offensive in Albania, thus becoming the last city under German control in Albania.
Enver Hoxha established communism in Albania. The communist regime repressed many religious people, mostly Catholic, but also some Muslims, and intellectuals, who opposed the communist ideology. Shkodra may be one of the cities with the most political prisoners during the communist regime. The famous
Shkodër Bazaar () and the port on the
Buna river were completely demolished by the communists, ending the centuries of a flourishing economic and trade center, but also reducing the city's strategic importance. Shkodër was the seat of a
Catholic archbishopric and had a number of religious schools. The first laic school was opened here in 1913, and the State Gymnasium was opened in 1922. It was the centre of many cultural associations. In sports Shkodër was the first city in Albania to constitute a sports association, the "Vllaznia" (brotherhood).
Vllaznia Shkodër is the oldest sport club in Albania. During the early 1990s, Shkodër was once again a major centre, this time of the democratic movement that finally brought to an end the
communist regime established by
Enver Hoxha. In the later 2000s (decade), the city experiences a rebirth as main streets are being paved, buildings painted and streets renamed. In December 2010, Shkodër and the surrounding region was hit by probably the worst flooding in the last 100 years. In 2011, a new
swing bridge over the Buna was constructed, thus replacing the old bridge nearby. == Geography ==