Albania - Saranda to Fier

I was on a tour of southern Albania in Oct 2018. We started in Saranda, which to my amazement is full of high rise buildings. Apparently in August it is absolutely packed with tourists. By Oct there were hardly any, thank goodness! Even more tourists go to the nearby Ksamil.

We went up a hill to Lekursi Castle and had great views over Saranda and the Ionian Sea and the mountains behind the town.

Albania has no official religion. In 2011 the census showed a majority of Muslims (58.79%), which include Sunni (56.70%) and Bektashi Muslims (2.09%); Christians 16.92% , including Roman Catholics (10.03%), Orthodox (6.75%) and evangelical Protestants (0.14%); Atheists accounted for 2.5% of the population and 5.49% were non-affiliated believers.  A mosque in Saranda -

Our next stop was a graveyard at Mesopotam. Many of the graves have photos of the deceased and I was surprised to see Muslim graves alongside Orthodox and Christian ones.

Adjacent is St. Nicholas Monastery Church, an abandoned Orthodox monastery of Saint George built around 1224. It is undergoing renovation. See Wikipedia entry.

Our next destination was Blue Eye and as our 52 seater coach couldn't get there on the rough track, we transferred to cars. Blue Eye is a deep spring, said to be 45 m deep. Apparently during Communist times only the elite were allowed to visit. Looking down on the spring -

Some crazy Canadians jumping in, despite the "no jumping, no swimming" signs!

We then headed for lunch. After passing a flock of goats, I ordered fried meat for lunch, which was kid

As with most Albanian meals, there was no veg, just a basket of bread.

That evening we stayed in the World Heritage town of  Girokaster.

The next day we drove alongside the Drino river which merged with the Vjosa. We stopped at the small town of Tepelena as Ali Pasha was born here. Ali Pasha of Tepelena was one of the most powerful autonomous Ottoman provincial rulers and we heard a lot about him on the trip! His statue -

We stopped at Fier for coffee. It is/was an important industrial city with oil, bitumen and chemical industries, but these were abandoned after the end of Communism, around 1991. Many people migrated. Today the town has colourful buildins but that's about all!

The river Seman in the town centre. There are plans to beautify it -

Our next visit was the Byzantine Ardenica monastery, near Kolonje. The monastery is thought to have been founded in the 13th or 14th c. Then there were additions, followed  by a major earthquake in the 17th c. There were more renovations. After the fall of Communism, in 1992 an Orthodox church took possession of the monastery and today there are just 3 monks. See more on Wikipedia.

 Frescoes in the church -

Entrance to the monastery -

After lunch we went to the archaeological site Apollonia, near Fier. Apollonia started as a Greek colony in the 6th c. BC and became one of the most important cities in the Adriatic Basin. It was first investigated by archaeologists in the 1920s, mostly by the Frenchman Leon Rey. It is now on the UNECSO tentative list. 

The city flourished and expanded during the 4th c. AD. Only a small part of it is thought to have been excavated.

The main centre has many important buildings. This is the Bouleuterion, the seat of the Boulea or City Council. Built in the 2nd c. AD and restored in 1976 -

Facing the Bouleuterion is the Odeon, where cultural and musical events were held, as well as official meetings. Only the important people were allowed here. It held 300 people in 16 rows, built in Greek style with Roman construction technique -

A restored storehouse, near the water tank area -

The medieval monastery was built in the 12th with materials taken from the ancient monuments of the city

The museum is also housed here. 

See UNESCO leaflet and park map.

Girokaster & Butrint, World Heritage Sites, Albania

During my trip to southern Albania in Oct 2018, I went to 2 World Heritage Sites. The first was Gjirokastër (Gjirokastra ), described by UNESCO as "a rare example of a well-preserved Ottoman town, built by farmers of large estate". It is a joint site with Berat, see UNECSO page.

The town is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino River, at 300 m asl. The town features a series of outstanding two-story houses which were developed in the 17th century. The town also has a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period.

The town is nicknamed the "silver city" due to the colour of the roof tiles etc after rain. This photo was taken with no rain -

Many of the houses in the centre are tourist shops

The city is overlooked by Gjirokastër Fortress, where the Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival is held every five years.

Inside the fort is a museum of artillery

There is also a small bektashi shrine, with the grave of Baba Sanxhaktari. I wrote about the bektashi in an earlier blog on Albania. Girokaster was an important centre for the Bektashi.

Girokaster is the birthplace of former Albanian communist leader Enver Hoxha and notable writer Ismail Kadare.

The mosque is also an important feature on the World Heritage listing, but this is currently undergoing renovation -

The 2nd World Heritage site we visited was the National Park of Butrint. See UNESCO listing for Butrint. "Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late Middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city’s development."

It is also a RAMSAR wetlands site. It is important for flora and fauna.

The park is south of Sarande and Ksamil which are both busy tourist area. The national park border marks the end of the built up area. The park lies on a "peninsula" between a large lake and the Ionian sea, with a canal connecting the two. The lake -

and the Vivari canal looking towards the sea

A chain ferry goes across the canal to a fortress

The site has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Greeks were there in the late 7th century BC, when the city (called Buthros) was surrounded by fortifications.

Later the Romans occupied and developed the city. After this was a Christian period when many religious structures were built by the Christians.
A mix of stone walls from the different ages -

The Slavs came to the Balkans in the 7th century. Next was the era of the Epirus despotate (after the taking of Constantinople by the Crusades in 1204), which meant a lot of problems for the city. This was followed by the Byzantine administration (Epirus). The Venetians occupied for a short period in the late 14th century. The Ottoman administration was threatened by the marshes that formed around the lake, and the city was abandoned by the population.

There are various small ponds amongst the ruins and water is a constant problem for the preservation of the site. Important mosaics are covered with thick layers of sand to protect them from the elements.

The ancient theatre was constructed in the 3rd century, then was rearranged in Roman style. Our group in the amphitheatre -

A well, note the rope grooves in the wall

The Great Basilica, built in the early Christian period in the 6th c. -

The lake is used by mussel farmers

Avenue of eucalyptus