Shkodra has been continuously inhabited since the Early Bronze Age (c. 2250–2000 BCE),[6][7] and has roughly 2,200 years of recorded history.

The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkodër and the foothills of the Albanian Alps on the banks of the Buna, Drin and Kir rivers.

[8] Due to its proximity to the Adriatic Sea, Shkodër is affected by a seasonal Mediterranean climate with continental influences.

[12][13] In the 3rd century CE, Shkodër became the capital of Praevalitana, due to the administrative reform of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

With the spread of Christianity in the 4th century CE, the Archdiocese of Scodra was founded and was assumed in 535 by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Shkodër is regarded as the traditional capital of northern Albania, also referred to as Gegëria, and is noted for its arts, culture, religious diversity, and turbulent history among the Albanians.

The architecture of Shkodër is particularly dominated by mosques and churches reflecting the city's high degree of religious diversity and tolerance.

The city was first attested in classical sources as the capital of the Illyrian kingdom with the name Skodra (Ancient Greek: Σκόδρα; genitive Σκοδρινῶν "of the Skodrians", appearing on 2nd c. BCE coins) and Scodra (Latin form).

A Paleo-Balkan origin has been suggested, relating it to the Albanian: kodër (definite form: kodra) 'hill', and Romanian: codru '(wooded) mountain, forest', with the same root as the ancient toponym Codrio/Kodrion.

The earliest signs of human activity in the lands of Shkodër can be traced back to the Middle Paleolithic (120,000–30,000 years ago).

The inhabitants of the intensively settled Shkodër basin produced pottery, practiced agriculture, and manufactured metal tools.

During the developed Early Bronze Age the new practice of tumulus burials appears, which may be associated to Indo-European migrations from the steppes.

Artefacts and inscriptions, discovered in the Rozafa Castle, are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans in the city.

Although, it was known under the name Scodra and was inhabited by the Illyrian tribes of the Labeates and Ardiaei, which ruled over a large territory between modern Albania up to Croatia.

[34] In the early 11th century, Jovan Vladimir ruled Duklja amidst the war between Basil II and Samuel.

Vladimir allegedly retreated into Koplik when Samuel invaded Duklja and was subsequently forced to accept Bulgarian vassalage.

[35] In the 1030s, Stefan Vojislav from Travunija, then part of Medieval Serbia,[citation needed] expelled the last strategos and successfully defeated the Byzantines by 1042.

The Statutes of Scutari mention Albanian and Slavic presence in the city, but under Venetian rule many Dalmatians were brought to Shkodra and as such formed the majority there.

[41] Venetians built the St. Stephen's Church (later converted into the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Mosque by the Ottomans) and the Rozafa Castle.

This is due to its geo-strategic position that connects it directly with the Adriatic and with the Italian ports, but also with land-routes to the other important Ottoman centre, namely Prizren.

The city was an important meeting place of diverse cultures from other parts of the Empire, as well as influences coming westwards, by Italian merchants.

Following the rebellion of Mustafa Pasha Bushatlliu Shkodër was sieged by the Ottomans for more than six months who finally managed to break the Albanian resistance on 10 November 1831.

Ottoman-Albanian intellectual Sami Frashëri during the 1880s estimated the population of Shkodër as numbering 37,000 inhabitants that consisted of three quarters being Muslims and the rest Christians made up of mostly Catholics and a few hundred Orthodox.

Edith Durham also notes the cruelties suffered at the hand of Montenegrins in the wake of October 1913: "Thousands of refugees arriving from Djakovo and neighbourhood.

In the second half of 1920, during the Serbian-Albanian War, Shkodër resisted the Serbian invasion under the lead of Sylço Bushati and financial aid provided by notable figures such as Musa Juka.

He was a self-made Muslim monarch and the king of all Albanians until 1939 when Italy invaded Albania, Shkoder resisted under the lead of Mehmet Ullagaj but fell soon afterwards.

During the early 1990s, Shkodër was once again a major centre, this time of the democratic movement that finally brought to an end the communist regime established by Enver Hoxha.

Shkodër is referred to as the capital and cultural cradle of northern Albania, also known as Gegëria, for having been the birthplace and home of notable individuals, who among others contributed to the Albanian Renaissance.

[73] Shkodër has also a long tradition in the development of the urban music of Albania, marked by a characteristic use of instrumentation and a style of composition.

[74] Rozafa Castle has played an instrumental role in Shkodër's history as the residence of Illyrian monarchs and a military stronghold.

[3] The expanded Marubi National Museum of Photography located on the Kolë Idromeno Street displays an extensive visual collection of Albanian social, cultural and political life beginning from 1850 on its galleries.