Ganjolla Castle, Shkodra

Ganjolla Castle is located near the village of the same name, in Ganjolla, on the top of a rocky hill. It is at an altitude of 355 m above sea level, to the left of the Shkodër-Pukë highway. The castle has a commanding position in the surrounding territory, a wide viewing angle and a visual connection with several fortified settlements of the Shkodra basin. To its west rises the fortress of Shkodra, to the southwest the fortified settlement of Beltojë, to the south and east lie the plains of Zadrima and Ganjolla, through which the Drin river winds.

While in the northeast, the hill of Kala is connected to a range of hills on its side. The castle is an important prehistoric fortification on the Lisus-Skodrion-Dardani route, through the Drin valley, and its construction typology is according to the pseudoisodomic quadrilateral system. The foundation of the wall consists of large limestone stones, flattened at the top, and less often of natural rock.

The northern wall is raised directly on the rocky base, without a foundation, while on the southern side there are no walls, but the protection is entrusted to the steep rocky slope. It is 140 m long, 1.70 m high and 4-5 m wide. Few fragments of Early Bronze pottery were also found away from the wall and within the inhabited area. Ganjolla Castle was inhabited in two different historical periods, with long time gaps between them. In the first phase, the early bronze period is considered, while in the second period, the settlement includes the II-I centuries BC.