Mes Bridge

A 13-arch Ottoman stone bridge spanning the Kir River about 8 kilometres northeast of central Shkodër, near the village of Mes. It is the longest Ottoman bridge in Albania (108 metres) and one of the best-preserved in the southern Balkans, with its hump-backed profile and slender pointed arches all original.

The bridge is open to walkers only; cars use the modern crossing a hundred metres downstream. Visit early morning or late afternoon to avoid the worst of the heat and the small busloads of day-trippers from Shkodër. A taxi from the city is the easiest way to come; allow an hour for the round trip with time on the bridge.

things to do sight bridge
A story
The bridge was built around 1770 by Mehmet Pasha Bushati, the founder of the Bushati pashalik. It carried the only road into the northern mountains for more than two centuries — Edith Durham, the British traveller, crossed it on horseback in 1908 and described it as "a thing of perfect proportion, set down in a wild place".

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