Zvërnec Island
Albania · Europe
About
Zvërnec Island is an island within the Narta Lagoon in southern Albania.
The island is nearly all covered with tall pine trees and is just east of a much smaller island. It is 430m in length and has a maximum width of 300m. Zvërnec Island is connected to the mainland by a 270m long wooden bridge.
The island is a tourist attraction because it contains the well preserved 13th-14th century Byzantine Zvërnec Monastery. Located nearby is the village of Zvërnec, from which the island derives its name. The island has an area about 9 hectares.
Historically, the island’s St. Mary's Monastery, Zvërnec was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of nearby Nartë, as the present-day village of Zvërnec did not yet exist when the monastery was founded; today both Nartë and Zvërnec belong to the Qendër Vlorë administrative unit of Vlorë Municipality. The monastery complex has been protected as a Cultural Monument since 1963.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.