While on our roadtrip through the western Balkan countries we found this hidden gem, which wasn't even mentioned in our guidebook - albeit being on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list! As we both really enjoyed coming here and found that no one had so far seized the opportunity to hide a cache here, we wanted to show this great spot to other cachers. As we are both not from here, please in case that you come here look after the cache and write a note in your log if something is missing or renew it, so that many cachers after you can have the joy of finding a geocache at this amazing place.
Short description of the history, taken and abriged from the official UNESCO webpage (https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6259/):
Not more that 30 km from Durrës, in western-central Albania, is located the impressive Castle of Bashtova. The castle has always attracted the attention of the travelers and scholars who have shared their notes, maps and drawings about it. According to the Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi , the castle was founded by the Venetians and was conquered by the Turks at the time when Fatih Sultan was directed toward the Albanian Skenderi (Shkodra).
In the books of registration of the Albania Sandzak lands of Turks in 1431-32 Castle Bshtovë is not mentioned. For the first time, Bashtova apears in a map as a castle (not only as a trading village) on 1521, in the Piri Reiz’s map.
The construction of the castle is linked precisely with a Venetian building for several reasons; Skanderbeg was more interested in strengthening the forts he already owned as well as to the paths where the Turkish army would pass through, while the turks were more focused in repairing and making use of the existing castles, like they did in Elbasan, Petrel, Preza, etc. Placed in a large flat valley and away from the roads of the turkish arm, this castle could not have been constructed from Skanderbeg either.
Building a new castle at the mouth of Shkumbin river was an excessive expenditure for the Venetians when they could easily preserve any existing castle in the area. Anyway the Castle did not stay for any long time under the dominance of the Venetians; according to Çeleby, it was conquered by the Turks, in 1478, where later they did additional work in the castle.
Cache in, trash out! Please support this credo and take any trash you may encounter and dispose it - thank you and have fun!