Sapë () was a medieval

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

, located near the village of

Nënshat Nënshat is a settlement in the former Hajmel municipality, Shkodër County, northern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Vau i Dejës Vau i Dejës (), English: Deja's Ford, is a town and a municipalit ...

, in the municipality of

Vau i Dejës Vau i Dejës (), English: Deja's Ford, is a town and a municipality in Shkodër County, northwestern Albania. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Bushat, Hajmel, Shllak, Temal, Vau i Dej ...

(belonging to

Shkodër County Shkodër County () is a county in northwestern Albania, with the capital in Shkodër. The county spans and had a total population of 154,479 people as of the 2023 census. The county borders on the counties of Lezhë, Kukës and the country of M ...

, in modern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

). It is attested since the 13th century, situated in the historical region of

Zadrima Zadrima is an ethnographic region situated in north-western Albania between the cities of Shkodra and Lezha, located left of the Lower Drin which eventually drains into the Adriatic Sea from near Lezha. Geography The Zadrima Plain includes v ...

. In 1291, dowager-queen Jelena of Serbia (d. 1314), while governing the region, petitioned

Pope Nicholas IV Pope Nicholas IV (; born Girolamo Masci; 30 September 1227 – 4 April 1292) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 February 1288 to his death, on 4 April 1292. He was the first Franciscan to be elected pope.McBrie ...

(1288-1292) and secured the creation of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë The Diocese of Sapë (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholicism in Albania, Catholic Church in Northern Albania. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolis (religious juri ...

, under the jurisdiction of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar The Archdiocese of Bar (; ; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Montenegro.

. By the end of the 15th century, the region was conquered by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and Sapë went into decline, and consequently into ruin. Today, only modest remains of the old fortress are preserved.

References

Sources

* * {{coord missing, Albania Forts in Albania