The best around Vlore: archeology, history and nature, Albania

myTour takes you to discover another part of Vlora, between the lagoon and the mountains. You will visit the remains of the ancient city of Oricum and its lagoon, you will be birdwatching in Albania and you will be able to see pelicans and herons that populate the Karaburun peninsula. Finally, you will go to visit the picturesque church of Marmiroi and the village of Tragjas.

The Vlore Albania Riviera and the village of Radhima

You will leave at 9 from the Hotel Bologna and walk south along the Vlora coast. Comfortably seated on our off-road vehicles, you will have the opportunity to admire Vlore Albania, passing through the tunnel of Uji i Ftohte (Cold Water), an area where there are several very beautiful beaches and during the summer there is a glamorous/fantastic nightlife at the bars and discos. Going a little further south you will meet the charming seaside resort of Radhima, famous for its beaches that alternate sand and rocks. In these parts the landscape begins to leave room for nature, the resorts and hotels are surrounded by green vegetation and fields where citrus fruits are grown.

The Oricum Archaeological Park

From Radhima you will take the road that leads us inside the natural park area. In a few minutes you will reach the Oricum Lagoon, an area rich in history. You will find yourself in fact just 60 km from the Italian coast and this lagoon was used as a stopover for ships that traded between the two coasts. Oricum (or Orikum) was an outpost founded between the seventh and sixth centuries BC. by Eritrean colonists returning from the Trojan War, whose position was strategic with respect to the nearby Passo di Llogara. In the second century BC the Greeks elevated it to the rank of polis and during the Roman civil war Oricum was the first city in Epirus that Caesar conquered. Nowadays a team of Swiss and Albanian archaeologists is bringing to light the wonderful ruins. In Oricum you will stop for a short break to discover the local flora and fauna.

The church of Marmiroi and TragjasYou will set off again to reach a small jewel of religious architecture, the Byzantine Church of Marmiroi, built around the 13th century AD. It is a rare example of a cross-plan church that has three entrances and a dome that is suspended on the cylindrical roof. You are at the foot of the Acrocerauni Mountains, whose highest peak, Mount Cika, reaches 2,044 meters in height. You will continue our tour towards the village of Tragjas, for a guided tour of the medieval castle and the remains of the old city which imposes itself on a hill with one of the most beautiful panoramas of the Gulf of Vlore. The Trajas area is also famous for being one of the places of the Battle of Gjorm (1-2 January 1943), in which the Albanian resistance army defeated the occupation troops of fascist Italy.