Skadar Lake National Park

History

Lake Skadar has a long, proud history. Once part of the ancient Slav province of Zeta, it was invaded by the Turks in the 13th century and occupied for five centuries with many battles witnessed by now crumbling fortresses such as Besac in Virpazar and Lessendro in Vranjina.

When the Turks were expelled from Montenegro in the late 19th century, Skadar town itself once the capital of Zeta was incorporated into Albania and is also called Shkoder. Meanwhile several Albanian villages on the southern shores such as Ostros and Donji-Murići became part of Montenegro.

During the fighting days against the Ottomans, Montenegro's rulers established their ruling seat and bastion in the north-west wetlands, at Žabljak Crnojevići, until they were forced to move their capital to Cetinje in 1482.

By the 19th and early 20th century, with an Independent Montenegro, the lake returned to royal glory with King Nikola setting up his summer court at the attractive lake town of Rijeka Crnojevića.

In WW2, Lake Skadar made history again as Virpazar provided the scene of the first Partisan uprising in Montenegro.

Understand

Lake Skadar is a vast freshwater lake, two thirds of which is in Montenegro and the remainder in Albania. It is surrounded by dramatic karst mountains and hosts a thrilling array of wildlife with more than 260 species of birds, traditional fishing villages, islet monasteries and pristine beaches.

It has been a protected National Park since 1983 and was added, in 1996, to the World's List of Wetlands of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention.

Landscape

Lake Skadar is the largest freshwater lake in the Balkans. It is fed by the Morača river and a series of underwater springs. An unusual feature, creating a special eco-system, is the annual expansion of the lake's circumference from 370 square kilometres in summer to 530 square kilometres in winter.

On average it is 44km long, 10km wide and 8 metres deep.

Flora and fauna

The variety of different habitats offered at Lake Skadar attract an incredible range of wildlife and provide one of the five most important birding sites in Europe with more than 260 different species to see. They include pygmy cormorant, the rare southern dalmatian pelican, storks, herons, egrets and ibises.

The surrounding hinterland is home to wild tortoises, lizardsm, amphibians, snakes and even wild boar.

The lake is also famous for its medicinal plants and wild orchids.