Case file · Folklore / legend
Rozafa, walled into the castle of Shkodër
The Albanian legend of Rozafa, a young wife walled into the foundations of Shkodër castle so that its walls would stop falling down, is attested by Marin Barleti as early as 1505.
1505 CE · 42.05, 19.49 · status: legend
The account
She asked that her right eye, hand, foot and breast be left free to care for her baby, and the stone at the gate is said to seep milk. The same 'immurement' story is told of Skadar in Serbian epic, of Curtea de Argeș in Romania and elsewhere in the Balkans.
The sceptical view
Foundation sacrifice is a widespread ballad motif; no burial has been found in the walls.