Hiking in Spilea

• Hiking Tours
• History
• Nature

This is a low to medium difficulty walk starting from the Antigone turn where you go by car. The road to Spilea after this moment passes through a gavel terrain.

In the monastery you can visit the church of St. Nicholas a cultural monument of the first category.

The monastery of Spilea dates back to 1634. The naos carved in the shape of a cross was painted by the painter Mihali in the time of the bishop, Kalist. The object amazes with the vibrancy of the fresco colors and the rebellious style of mural painting. The small church of monks in a cave that stands inside the site of a karst rock is the culmination of this experience. The cave once housed hermit monks. It is believed they had isolated themselves in the cave as an act of sacrifice to their sinful nature. The last monks lived in the monastery until after the Second World War and the place was abandoned during the communist regime.

It will take about 1.5 hours to see the monastery and explore the surrounding area. Then we will walk towards the village Saraqinisht where a picnic lunch will be consumed in the yard of a local house. Guests will be offered traditional cooked recipe that was mainly used for religious celebrations. This will also be a moment when you will learn a lot about the area, the tradition of Lunxhëria and the rich cuisine inspired by the wealth of land products.

After the picnic lunch we will start the way back to the village “Asim Zeneli”. The descent passes through a very diverse landscape, traverses the village of Tranoshishtë and then the ancient path of Epirot village, rich meadows and pastures full of pastoral life. Upon arrival at “Asim Zeneli” will be transported by vehicle to Gjirokastra.