St. Mary's Monastery

It is an old monastery which is located in a small evergreen island sorrounded by the amazing lagoon of Narta and Adriatic sea.If you are a travel lover and especially a history, art and nature lover you will definetely enjoy the trip. Some studies say that this monastery belongs to the XIII century, some others say that it belongs to the X-XI century and some say that it is even older and belongs to the Byzantine period because inside the church it is a grave on which is written something in Greek (you can read more about this on Wikipedia). Inside the church, there are some very old frescoes. Outside, on its left side there are some graves, one of which is that of Marigo Posio.She is known for sewing or embroidering the flag raised by Ismail Qemali(the first Albanian Prime Minister) during the Albanian Declaration of Independence in Vlore on 28 November 1912. You can breathe the fresh air here and enjoy the impressive nature - forest,lagoon,sea or capture some beautiful pictures of pelicans,ducks, flamingos and other birds if you are lucky enough to find them there. I hope you enjoy your visit there and if somebody needs a guide in Vlora you...

One star is unfortunately too much. I visited the place wearing long trousers and full body athletic swimming suit (there were many men wearing shorts and women with crop tops and shorts too). Unfortunately i was targeted without any explanation. The guard almost grabbed me and dragged me out. He didn't speak any other language and i did not know albanian. I got out the temple and he kept screaming at me in front of other people.. i was kicked out of the hole island. I respect that maybe he wanted me to wear a dress..but he wasn't calm or polite. I cooperate immediately and i didn't talk back but he was either way rude and he made me feel really shamed. Of course there are no signs there or written rules so i couldn't know.... And i never learnt why i was the only one there treated that way......

I visited in October. The monastery is on an island in the Narta Lagoon. You walk across a wide wooden boardwalk to reach the island, the boardwalk is stable and in good shape. The monastery is small and well preserved. The only developed part of the island is the monastery complex. The rest of the island is pines. There is a small cemetery. One of the luminaries buried there is Marigo Posio, an Albanian political activist who fought for independence and who made the first Albanian flag that was raised when Albania declared is independence. There is parking on the mainland just on either side of the boardwalk. The site is free. Pets are not allowed on the boardwalk or island. Note: the Narta Lagoon is a lagoon so the water is somewhat stagnant and smells like a lagoon. But...