The legend of Shkoder: Rozafa Fortress
High up on the southern edge of the city lies the Rozafa Fortress. The castle is one of the city's most important sights. Legend has it that three brothers wanted to build the fortress together. But every night the walls that they had so laboriously built during the day collapsed again. Then an old man gave them some advice. A woman had to be walled in; that was the only way they could finish building the walls and they would last forever. The three brothers discussed it and came to the conclusion that they wanted to sacrifice one of their wives, namely the one who would be the first to bring them lunch the next day. But the two eldest brothers did not keep their agreement and warned their wives. So it came to be that the young Rozafa, the wife of the youngest brother, was the only woman to appear at the construction site of the fortress. Rozafa bravely accepted her fate, but on one condition: she asked the brothers not to wall up one breast, one arm and one leg, so that she could continue to breastfeed her little child, caress it with her hand and rock the baby's cradle with her leg. Most of the castle's buildings were destroyed over time, but the wall still stands in Shkoder - solid and indestructible.
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