The expansion of Shkodër over the centuries has gone through different stages until today. The Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Shkodër in a post on social networks published the print showing the Castle, preserved in the Ambrosian Library of Florence, since 1877.

According to the above directorate, the city preserved its ancient and medieval ground with an expansion to the east, in the plain part, until the beginning of the XIX century. The new neighborhoods were mainly named after Ottoman officials, the geographical position or the trades practiced by the residents.

The cannons of the Ottoman governor, Hafiz Pasha in 1835 and the earthquakes of 1815, 1837, 1852, 1905 had an impact in the movement of the inhabitants from the old city, to the west, towards the bazaar and the plains of the Lake Shkodër. The change of of river Drin bad after 1858 marked the decline of the castle center that was flourishing during the period of the Pashalik of Shkodër.

Of the few traces that are preserved today mostly remain in toponymy likeTabakë, Bexhene, Ajasem neighborhoods, the ruins of the Mosque of Tabakë, and of that Qafë-Kala, and the century-old chinar, a natural monument.

/a.p./