Vlora and The National Marine Park

Vlora is one of the largest, most populous cities in Albania and home to the second largest port in the country. The city is rich in history and antiquity which dates back to the 6th century B.C., when it was known as Aulona. Fragments of the massive wall surrounding Aulona have been found in the center of the city, close to Sheshi i Flamurit. The most interesting sights of Vlora include the Independence Museum (in the headquarters building of the first government), the History Museum, and the Ethnographic Museum. Among the religious objects in Vlora, one of the most important is the Mosque of Muradie, built in 1542 by the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire, Mimar Sinani, who was probably originally from the region. He is the constructor of the famous Suleymanye Mosque in Istanbul and had also rebuilt other cities in Turkey, such as Edirne (Selymie Mosque), Erzurum and others. Sazan Island, the largest island off the coast of Albania, has a surface area of 5.7 square km is actually a military facility with no civil population. The island, once a fortified and isolated enclave, actually has bunkers and tunnels designed to withstand nuclear attacks. Something of a mystery for even many Albanians, the base once was occupied by as many as 3,000 military personnel. Sazan Island sits at Albania’s most western point, a fortress once used by Italy’s Fascist regime during the 1930s for controlling the “Otranto Strait”. Today more than half of the island’s surrounding marine area forms part of the Karaburun-Sazan National Marine Park