Saranda |
Saranda is Albania's most southern city. Situated opposite the Island of Corfu, it is now mostly visited by day trippers who come to enjoy this previously inaccessible resort. It is a tourist site that was the preferred choice for Albanian new couples on their honey moon. Saranda has an excellent climate, averaging 290 sunny days a year. In the summer temperatures rarely exceed 30 degrees during the day, while the sea breeze at night is quite refreshing.
It is an old town, first settled by the Illyrian tribe of Chaonians who named it Onchesmus. Cicero mentions it as convenient harbor with favorable winds. It is the bay on which is build that gives Saranda its charming look, that can be better appreciated if approached from the sea. The many mosaics found in the town confirm that the town must have seen some above average development around 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. Near Saranda are the ruins of the ancient city of Butrint a World Heritage Site and one of the most important archeological finds in Albania, and the “Blue Eye” natural spring.
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| Close to Saranda is also the ancient city of Finiq that according to Edwin Jacques, it is found to have had one of the biggest acropolis in the ancient world, roughly 7 times bigger than that of Athens.
In Saranda you can see: Archaeological site of Butrint, Ethnographic Museum, the ruins of ancient town of Onhezmi in Saranda, the ancient temple and other ruins of Foinike in Finiq village, the small Castle of Ali Pasha in Vrine village, the Church of Saint Kolli in Mesopotam village as well as the beautiful Ksamili Islands.
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