Shurdhah Island, Vau i Dejës, Albania

Shurdhah Island is located in the Vau i Dejës Reservoir, which is fed and drained by the river Drin.

Sarda was founded between the 6th and 7th centuries. The town was strategically located on the old road from the Adriatic Sea to Dardania and served as a resting point along the trade route. The settlement originally had a wall encircling the entire hill it was built on. Encircled on three sides by the Drin river, Sarda had 12 towers of various forms. Sarda seems to have been a modest settlement from its foundation to the 9th century when it saw rapid expansion. It gained its highest importance in the 12th century, when it was the seat of the joint bishop of Sapa and Sarda. Around 1100 a Diocese of Sarda was established on the island.

The island was the original settlement of the feudal Lekë Dukagjini patriarch, famous for the rules of the Kanun. It was ravaged by the Ottomans in 1491.

Today tourists can visit the ruins of the 11th-century medieval castle, which includes two rings of defensive walls and towers (some sadly submerged in the lake), the remains of a Byzantine church and other early medieval walls. The setting on the steep rocks rising from the lake is especially impressive. The island is accessible by tourist boat in summer from the Vau i Dejës dam or Rragam.

References:

Wikipedia

Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Albania

The Church of the Holy Cross

The church of the former Franciscan monastery was built probably between 1515 and 1520. It is located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Old Rauma. The church stands by the small stream of Raumanjoki (Rauma river).

The exact age of the Church of the Holy Cross is unknown, but it was built to serve as the monastery church of the Rauma Franciscan Friary. The monastery had been established in the early 15th century and a wooden church was built on this location around the year 1420.

The Church of the Holy Cross served the monastery until 1538, when it was abandoned for a hundred years as the Franciscan friary was disbanded in the Swedish Reformation. The church was re-established as a Lutheran church in 1640, when the nearby Church of the Holy Trinity was destroyed by fire.

The choir of the two-aisle grey granite church features medieval murals and frescoes. The white steeple of the church was built in 1816 and has served as a landmark for seafarers.

Chef Baku (10 months ago)

Saviano Maria (2 years ago)
Underappreciated and not organized at all, but nature being what it is

Gjovan Frroku (2 years ago)

Shkodra Vizion (3 years ago)
It's a great place to enlarge your lungs from the fresh air. The service becomes more passionate, but must be booked in advance

Mónika Feketeová (Moonazetsk ahoj《Rose's 》) (4 years ago)

Shurdhah Island

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

The Church of the Holy Cross