Zvërnec Island is a picturesque island with tall pine trees and a very old monastery. It has a surface area of approximately 9 hectares and lies within the Narta Lagoon. The Lagoon has a surface area of 41.8 km2, it is separated from the Adriatic Sea by a long narrow strip of land. The lagoon is named after the village of Nartë, which is located on the lagoon's southern shores. Zvërnec, Vlorë County, Albania.
Zvërnec Island is accessible from the mainland by a wooden bridge. At the halfway fork, tourists and locals can also head for the platform to admire the flamingos or go fishing. In the distance, Sazan Island can be seen. During the Cold War, the Soviets built a base for submarines and a chemical/biological weapons plant on the offshore island. Zvërnec, Vlorë County, Albania.
The island is home to St Mary's Monastery, also named Zvërnec Monastery. This peaceful religious retreat is believed to date back to the 14th Century. Zvërnec, Vlorë County, Albania.
The ruins of Rozafa Castle, also named Shkodër Castle, are of Venetian origins. The site where the castle stands, has been used as a stronghold since the antiquity. It is strategically located on a rocky mesa top between the Buna and Drin Rivers and near their confluence. It was an Illyrian settlement, whose capital was Scodra (renamed Shkodër). Their territory was lost when they were defeated by the Romans in 168 BCE. Shkodër County, Albania.
The castle overlooks the city of Shkodër which was founded by Illyrian tribes in the 4th century BCE, it is one of Albania’s oldest city. Shkodër County, Albania.
Cape of Rodon (also known as Cape of Skanderbeg) is a rocky promontory jutting out into the Adriatic Sea. Rodoni Castle (also known as Skanderbeg Castle) is on the northern (shady) side of the Cape. Four bunkers from the Cold War era are in the lower right. Durrës County, Albania.
Bunkers are a ubiquitous sight all across Albania, in cities and in the back country. They are a relic of the Cold War era; some 175,000 reinforced concrete bunkers were built when Enver Hoxha, the main ruler of Albania, started a “bunkerization program” in 1968 that lasted 2 decades. Albania was then, one of the most self-isolated country in the world. These three clifftop bunkers at Cape of Rodon overlook the Adriatic Sea. Durrës County, Albania.
Due to its well-protected bay on the Albanian Riviera, Porto Palermo has been an important site for defensive purposes as early as the antiquity. And, as recently as the Cold War when the Soviets built a military base with a submarine bunker under the mountain. In the middle of the closed bay, Porto Palermo Island is linked to the mainland by an isthmus. Vlorë County, Albania.
On the island stands a limestone castle with a singular triangular shape and three adjoining pentagonal towers. It is named Porto Palermo Castle (also known as Ali Pasha Castle), and is believed to have been built in the early 19th century by Ali Pasha of Tepelena. Vlorë County, Albania.
Shipwreck in the Bay of Vlorë. Vlorë County is where the Adriatic Sea to the north meets the Ionian Sea to the south and Italy is only 75km away from the end of the Karaburun Peninsula. Vlorë, Vlorë County, Albania.
Vlorë is a seaside resort on the northern Albanian Riviera and the third most populated city in Albania. In Vlorë, some abandoned beachfront buildings (in 2023) are a stark contrast with the modern hotels a short distance away; tourism is a rapidly expanding sector. Vlorë, Vlorë County, Albania.
Fishing weir on a channel between the Adriatic Sea and the Narta Lagoon. Zvërnec, Vlorë County, Albania.