After visiting Apollonia we headed back to Tirana, but made one stop at the 18th Century Church of St. Mary, part of a monastery at Ardenia a small town between Fier and Lushnja.
The first church was built here during the 13th century and the monastery gate house dates from 1474. The existing church is the long cream colored building in the middle and right of the above photograph. The white bell tower was built in 1925. I had read about this church and monastery in a travel book about Albania. What makes the church so important is that inside there are some very special paintings done by Kostandin and Athanas Zografi. Their surname, Zografi, was acquired while painting frescoes in Greece. In Greek the surname means "painter". These brothers were known throughout the southern Balkans during their lifetimes.
Here is photograph of the LDS Church meeting place in Fier, Albania. Mom and I drove down there to speak in their Sacrament meeting. Edmond Dukaj and his wife Valentina drove us there just as they had down last month when we went to to Elbason to speak. The Church meets in a small four story building. The first floor holds some shops, the 2nd floor is where the Church holds its meetings and the 3rd and 4th floors contain apartments. You should be able to make out the name of the Church posted on the balcony of the 2nd floor. There were about 30 in attendance at the meeting. Eight of those were missionaries. Its a pretty small branch. Fier was a city built during the Communist period and is the center of what is left of Albania's industrial heartland. Its about a 2 hour drive south of Tirana. So to be on time for a 10:00 am Sacrament meeting we left Tirana at 7:30.
After visiting Apollonia we headed back to Tirana, but made one stop at the 18th Century Church of St. Mary, part of a monastery at Ardenia a small town between Fier and Lushnja.
The first church was built here during the 13th century and the monastery gate house dates from 1474. The existing church is the long cream colored building in the middle and right of the above photograph. The white bell tower was built in 1925. I had read about this church and monastery in a travel book about Albania. What makes the church so important is that inside there are some very special paintings done by Kostandin and Athanas Zografi. Their surname, Zografi, was acquired while painting frescoes in Greece. In Greek the surname means "painter". These brothers were known throughout the southern Balkans during their lifetimes. 
Here is photograph of the LDS Church meeting place in Fier, Albania. Mom and I drove down there to speak in their Sacrament meeting. Edmond Dukaj and his wife Valentina drove us there just as they had down last month when we went to to Elbason to speak. The Church meets in a small four story building. The first floor holds some shops, the 2nd floor is where the Church holds its meetings and the 3rd and 4th floors contain apartments. You should be able to make out the name of the Church posted on the balcony of the 2nd floor. There were about 30 in attendance at the meeting. Eight of those were missionaries. Its a pretty small branch. Fier was a city built during the Communist period and is the center of what is left of Albania's industrial heartland. Its about a 2 hour drive south of Tirana. So to be on time for a 10:00 am Sacrament meeting we left Tirana at 7:30.
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