Manastiri i Ardenices | |
.JPG) | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania |
| Established | 1282 |
| Dedicated to | Byzantine victory over the Angevins during the siege of Berat (1280–1281) |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Andronikos II Palaiologos |
| Site | |
| Location | Fier District, Albania |
| Coordinates | 40°49′7″N 19°35′33″E / 40.81861°N 19.59250°E |
| Public access | yes |
The Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Ardenica[1] (Albanian: Manastiri Lindja e Hyjlindëses Mari,;[2][3] or simply Ardenica Monastery (Albanian: Manastiri i Ardenices) is an Eastern Orthodox monastery, located 18 kilometers south of Lushnjë, Albania, along the national road that links Lushnjë to Fier.[4]
Built by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1282, after the victory against the Angevins in the siege of Berat, the monastery is famous as the place where, in 1451, the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg married Andronika Arianiti. In 1780 the Monastery started a theological school to prepare clerics in Greek Orthodoxy. It had an important library with 32,000 volumes, which was destroyed by a fire in 1932. The Church of Saint Mary within the monastery contains frescos by the Zografi Brothers, notably one of saint John Kukuzelis, born in Durrës, Albania.
- ^ Eastern Churches Journal: A Journal of Eastern Christendom. Society of Saint John Chrysostom. 1997. p. 222.
- ^ "Manastiri "Lindja e Hyjlindëses Mari", Ardenicë (i restauruar)". orthodoxalbania.org. Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ "The Monastery of Theotokos Mary, Ardenica (restored)". orthodoxalbania.org. Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ Andoni, Ben. "Manastiri i Ardenices: Ku shqiptaret piskasin ne vend te lutjes" (in Albanian). Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2010.