Apollonia to Ardenica
Trip Start
May 10, 2007
1
6
7
Trip End
May 13, 2007
Ardenica, Albania
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Architectonic Complex and the Monastery of Ardenicë
It is thought that the foundations of this monastery were built in 1282 on the initiative of the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II Paleologus of Byzantium.
The incentive must have come from the existence of the chapel of St. Triadha in the area, which was built centuries before. Speculations are that the chapel might have been built on the foundations of the ruins of a pagan temple. The temple was built to honor the goddess Artemis, from which the present name Ardenicë derives. Very close to the temple, in the outskirts of which lies the current monastery, passes the southern branch of the ancient Via Egnatia. Here and there around the monastery one can see old constructions, which prove that previous settlements existed there.
According to Ottoman chronicles of 1431-1432, the village of Ardenicë, consisting of 8 houses, may have existed around the monastery. The monastery is surrounded by a high defensive wall and a wooden main gate. The gate dates back to 1474. Immediately on the right, once inside, there is a door that takes you to the basement where an olive pressing device is found. In the center of the yard is the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, which was built in the time of the Despot of Epirus at the beginning of the thirteenth century. The surrounding galleries housed the monks and guests and served as areas for trade and commercial activity.
Most of the church was built in the thirteenth century, while the inscription on the wall says 1743. The bell tower was rebuilt in 1925. The frescoes dating from 1744 and mural works by the renowned painters Kostandin and Athanas Zografi from Korçë are found intact inside the church. The eastern walls of the church and parts of the surrounding walls are built using construction stones from Apollonia. The Albanian national hero Gjergj Kastriot Skanderbeg was married here in the evening of April 21, 1451.
