Monasteries in Albania
Ardenica Monastery
Built by Byzantine Emperor, Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1282 after the victory against the Angevins in the Siege of Berat, the Ardenica Monastery is famous as the place where, in 1451, was celebrated the marriage of Skanderbeg, the national hero of Albania, with Andronika Arianiti. In 1780 the Monastery started a theological school to prepare clerics in Greek Orthodoxy. It had an important library with 32,000 volumes tha ...St. Mary's Church
The St. Mary"s Church is an Eastern Orthodox church and monastery in Elbasan, Albania. The church"s building started in 1483, but it ended almost a century later: the church had its first religious services only in 1556. It was built entirely in stone in a completely particular way, with stones carved in the shape of a cross, which can still be seen today. The church was frescoed by Onufri and restaured by David ...Shirgj Church
The Shirgj Church was built in 1290 by Helen of Anjou, queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, wife of Serbian king Stefan Uroš I, and mother of kings Dragutin and Milutin. Apparently the monastery was constructed on top of an existing structure: according to apocryphal documents, the original monastery is mentioned as erected by Justinian, whereas in other sources its existence is mentioned as an abbey starting from 1100. ...St. John the Baptist's Monastery
According to the donor"s inscription, the church inside the St. John the Baptist"s Monastery was built in 1632 and painted in 1659. Today the monastery is declared a Cultural Monument of Albania. The monastery includes the church as well as two other buildings which were part of the monastery. The church has dimensions of 17m x 7.65 X 9m. The frescoes are preserved and in a good afresket and worked with componen ...Dhuvjan Monastery
The Dhuvjan Monastery is traditionally dated to the 6th century, however, this has been contested due to notes left by a former monk working in the monastery, who alleged that the monastery was built in 1089. The monastery is devoted to the Virgin Mary. It underwent restoration in the 1960s and was elevated to the status of cultural monument by the Albanian government in 1963. However, another restoration project is nee ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
The Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania was built originally in the 15th century for the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Royal Palace in the Lower Castle evolved over the years and prospered during the 16th and mid-17th centuries. For four centuries the palace was the political, administrative and cultural center of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Soon after the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was incorporated into Tsarist Russia, Tsarist officials ordered the demolition of the remaining sections of the Royal Palace. The Palace was almost completely demolished in 1801, the bricks and stones were sold, and the site was bowered. Only a small portion of the walls up to the second floor survived, that were sold to a Jewish merchant Abraham Schlossberg around 1800 who incorporated them into his residential house. After the 1831 uprising, the czarist government expelled Schlossberg and took over the building as it was building a fortress beside it. Before the Second World War it was the office of the Lithuanian Army, during the World War II it was the office of the German Army, and after World War II it was used by Soviet security structures and later transformed into the Palace of Pioneers. Fragments of Schlossberg's house have become part of the Eastern Wing of the restored Royal Palace.
A new palace has been under construction since 2002 on the site of the original building. The Royal Palace was officially opened during the celebration of the millennium of the name of Lithuania in 2009.