Lëkurësi Castle is on a strategic hill point overlooking the town of Saranda, southeast of the town centre. From here one can control the whole town as well as the islands of Ksamil. The castle was built in 1537 by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who had attacked Corfu and needed to control the harbor of Saranda and the road that connected it with Butrint.
The region traditionally belonged to the southern part of the region of Himara. At the end of the 18th century the castle was attacked by Ali Pasha of Ioannina and the surrounding habitation raided.
The castle used to withhold the old Lëkurës village. It has a square shape with two round towers on its north-western and south-eastern corners. To climb up to the castle, visitors need to leave the main road on Qafë Gjashtë and go up the town hill from the other side of the town.
References:Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.
The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.
These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.