The castle is located on the upper part of a narrow ridge about a kilometer long on the eastern slope of Mali i Gjerë, which rises about 200 meters above the flat bottom of the Drino valley and stretches down to the plain. The range of hills drops steeply to the south and north, but due to the lack of rocky terrain high defensive walls had to be built. The fortified complex is 500 meters long and up to a maximum of 90 meters wide. At the narrowest point, the width hardly exceeds ten meters.
Casemates with exhibits from the Weapons Museum
The complex can be roughly divided into four sections. The western quarter is quite narrow with vaults built after 1811 and a narrow garden with a Bektashi turbe containing the tombs of two Babas from the 16th and 17th centuries. The next third contains the central buildings with the main entrance and the former prison. The next third contains wide open spaces now used as a festival stage – and auditorium – with large cisterns beneath. To the far east of the castle is a bastion and another gateway, above which is the 19th-century city clock tower.
The castle has seven towers. It used to be possible to walk through vaults along the entire length of the castle. A third gate was on the south side, opposite the main entrance.