Shkodra - Cathedral

With around 140,000 inhabitants, Shkodra is the fifth most populous city in the Republic of Albania. The area has been inhabited continuously since the early Bronze Age. A settlement was founded here by Illyrians in the 4th century BC. The Romans annexed the town in 168 BC. With the spread of Christianity in the 4th century AD, the archbishopric of Scodra was founded and taken over by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 535.

In the second half of the 6th century, Scodra was conquered by invading Slavs.

In 1396, the Republic of Venice took over Shkodra, which now became part of Venetian Albania. During Venetian rule, the city flourished into a rich trading town.

In 1479, after a long siege, Shkodra was captured by the Ottomans. As far as the inhabitants had survived the siege, they left the city with the retreating Venetian troops and were resettled on Venetian territory. It took a long time for the city to recover from the destruction and depopulation and become an important trading centre again, which was now able to benefit from the exchange between the Ottoman Empire and the rest of Europe. By the end of the 16th century, almost all the inhabitants had converted to Islam.

The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Stephen and this consecration follows the consecration of an already existing church, on whose remains a mosque was built. During the first three centuries of Ottoman occupation, the city's bishops were forced to live outside the city. In 1851, Abdülmecid I issued the decree after the Christians had asked the Sultan for permission to build the church. The church was opened in 1865.

An earthquake in 1905 and the bombing in 1913 during the Siege of Scutari (First Balkan War) severely damaged the church, the bell tower burned down and many people who had sought shelter here fell victim to the attack.

When communist Albania declared atheism in 1967, all places of worship, mosques or churches, were closed, destroyed or converted. The cathedral was converted into a sports hall. The bell tower was blown up and the bells melted down. After the collapse of the Albanian dictatorship, the cathedral was ceremoniously reopened in 1991. Mother Teresa was among the thousands of guests in attendance.