St. Mary's Monastery on the island of Zvernec, Albania
Wherever you go, go with all your heart - Confucius
Hello travellers from all over the world
I hope you're well wherever you are in the world.
Staying in Vlora resort in Albania we looked for some interesting places to see around, this country really has a lot to offer, to be able to visit as many places here you need either your own car or a rented car to get to your destination as soon as possible.
In today's post we will go together to explore the island of Zvernec and the Monastery of Saint Mary built here.
From Vlora resort to there we had to travel a distance of about 10-15km, a road through traditional Albanian villages and through an amazing pine forest, so we left early in the morning to avoid the crowds, I had read on the internet that the place is very visited, the visit of the island and the monastery is free of charge.
Let me not forget to tell you that I came on holiday to Albania by personal car, it was quite difficult for me because of the long distance between Romania and Albania and because of the border crossing formalities.
Along the pine forest we saw several signs pointing the way to the fishing restaurants, so we decided that on the way back we would pass by some of them.
I was lucky with the gps because otherwise I don't know how I could have found this place because I didn't see any signs to this goal.
After arriving here we got over this inconvenience, if you come by car you should know that the place does not have its own parking but you actually leave your car on the side of the road, think it is safe there.
When we arrived there were a few parked cars and a van whose owners were staying there, it is worth mentioning that the island of Zvernec is not accessible by car.
After parking the car on the side of the road we walked towards the only access to the island and of course to the monastery, a wooden path.
The wooden path gives an amazing contrast of the island and the monastery, at one point the path splits in two, a path leading to the island and a path leading to a pier.
The first time we walked on the wooden path leading to the pier, there some guys were hunting some crabs, also from here you can watch the marine life formed by pelicans, turtles (small size), you can feel a sense of relief and relaxation standing on the edge of the pier watching the marine life.
We are slowly heading towards the path that leads to the island and the monastery, the closer we get the more imposing we see the monastery, in the first phase we explored the area around the monastery, here we could see very old walls built of stone and other stone formations just as old, vegetation mostly made of olive trees in the rest because of the drought almost everything was burned.
We begin to visit the interior of the monastery from the 13th-14th century where we saw very old paintings preserved in good condition, we spent a few minutes here inside trying to observe the details of the paintings that impressed me, the monastery is very small you do not need much time to visit it.
In the meantime, the sun was getting very hot and we decided to head back, so we headed for the resort, but not before visiting a few restaurants whose advertisements we had seen on the side of the road when we arrived.
We found a beach with a bar with a famous name Saint-Tropez, visited the beach here and refreshed ourselves with juice then continued our way to our accommodation.
I have to tell you that Albania is famous for the thousands of bunkers built all over its territory, on the way back to my accommodation I couldn't help but stop in a forest and see what these bunkers look like.
From what I observed they are strategically positioned generally oriented towards the main access routes, the bunker you see in the pictures I saw from the car when I was going to the monastery, to observe them you have to be very careful they are almost buried in the ground, they are really interesting they are built of reinforced concrete with very thick walls.
If you ever visit this area consider exploring these bunkers and especially those not too crowded beaches in the area, really worth it.
That was it for today, we enjoyed together a visit to Zvernec island we also saw a monastery, a beach and a bunker, hehe.
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P.S. The attached pictures you have just seen are taken by me with my mobile phone in Zvernec island, Albania, and the text is also designed by me.
