We packed up and left Tirana behind to travel south. Our first visit was to the Ardenica Monastery, built by a Byzantine Emperor in the C13th. It lies just beside the Via Egnatia, part of an important route from Rome to Constantinople and would have been a welcome refuge for travellers.
It is also said to be the place where Skanderbeg was married, a fact which may have protected the site during the Communist era, although it was converted to a barracks and was later restored.
The iconostasis inside the C18th Church of St Mary was impressive …
… and also the frescoes by the Zografi brothers who came from Korça.
We continued to Apollonia, one of 24 cities in the Ancient Greek world named after the god Apollo by the Greeks. This one was founded around 600BC and remained important in Roman times, with a school of philosophy attended by Augustus in C2ndAD. The city began to decline a century later when an earthquake changed the course of the river and was later abandoned.
The most impressive area was the seating used for civic meetings which would have been housed in a rectangular roofed building …
… and here we all are again!
There were also shops …
… and a huge library.
Due to its strategic position, there was a Communist era bunker overlooking the plain, the first one we had seen up close.
The C13th Church of St Mary and monastery were built with recycled bricks and stones from Apolonia …
… and now contains the museum with all the archaeological finds. I especially liked this lady who looks like a Jane Austen heroine with her elaborate hairstyle!
It had obviously been a hard morning’s sightseeing, but this gives me a chance to introduce our comfy bus!
The coastal city of Vlorë was our next destination and we had a late lunch on the front before our visit to this small building, now a museum.
It was here that the Albanian Declaration of Independence from the Ottomans was proclaimed on 28th November 1912 and the Albanian flag raised by Ismail Kemal, the first Prime Minister.
The day was chosen to coincide with the day that Skanderbeg raised the flag in Krujë in 1443.
A quick check in at Hotel Partner …
… meant we could join others in the Albanian ‘zhiro’ or evening walk along the lungomare enjoyed once the air is cooler, just in time to see the sun set.
Walking out later, we ended up eating in a very small side street Piceria, but we chose well with delicious seafood linguine and Chris said the pizza was the best pizza so far!
Off Travelling Together 