During the spring, when the level of the lake is extremely high, the hill with the city becomes an island and the connection with the mainland is possible only by boats, which was not always the case.
There is no written information about the origin of the city. As the site has been partially explored archaeologically, it is very difficult to reliably determine the time of the formation of the town of Zabljak. It is possible that it was founded by the Vojisavljevics in the 11th century, using the extremely favorable position of the hill in this part of Skadar Lake. During the reign of Zeta the Serbian dynasties of Nemanjic there was an important fortification.
Zabljak was the capital of Stefan Crnojevic , who strongly fortified the fortress according to the Venetian system of fortifications and later by Ivan Crnojevic. The city had the status of the capital and held it from 1466 until 1478, when it was occupied by the Ottomans. Under their rule, as a protruding and strategic point towards Montenegro, it remained for four centuries until 1878, when it finally belonged to Montenegro.