LËKURËSI FORT

This Ottoman fort (Kalaja e Lëkurësit) is located at 264 m above sea level on a hill to the east of the city. It offers a vast panorama from the bay of Saranda to the Greek island of Corfu. Now occupied by the Lëkurësi Castle restaurant (very popular at sunset), it was built in 1537 to accommodate Suleiman the Magnificent who was leading from afar the unsuccessful siege of Corfu led by the famous Greek-Turkish corsair Barbarossa. The fort was looted by Ali Pasha at the end of the 18th century, but it retains its two towers to the northwest and southeast.