Antonius Monastery (Laç)

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The monastery complex in the mountains above Laç

The Franciscan Antonius Monastery ( Albanian  Kisha e Shna Ndout ) is a Catholic monastery and pilgrimage center known throughout Albania above the industrial city of Laç , which is named after Anthony of Padua . The building, destroyed by the communists, dates back to the 14th century and was rebuilt in the 1990s.

Monastery and pilgrimage site

The monastery is located at around 300  m above sea level. A. high ground terrace over a rock wall. In the karst of the rock there is a small cave dedicated to St. Blaise of Sebaste . According to local tradition, the saint is said to have lived in the cave and later suffered martyrdom in Durrës . The name Sebaste was carried over to the whole area including the fortress on the next hill, used in the 6th and 7th centuries. The cave is protected as a national natural monument.

St. Blaise's Cave

The monastery is considered to be the most important Christian pilgrimage site in the country; There are also many Muslims and Bektashi among the visitors . Thousands of pilgrims visit the monastery around the feast day of St. Anthony, June 13th. Church services take place on Tuesdays and Saturdays. But the monastery is also a popular place of prayer for believers. They seek healing and protection; there are many reports of miraculous healings . The faithful burn candles in niches black with smoke, visit the church and the cave and leave offerings.

"Far from the mountains, the farmers carry their sick on stretchers to the feast of St. Anthony and believingly await a miraculous healing."

- Erich von Luckwald : ibid.

history

It is believed that Franciscans built a church near the Sebaste Cave as early as 1300. Legend has it that the monks wanted to build a church near the ruins of the fortress, but the building material was always found on the other side of the valley in the morning. They saw it as a heavenly sign and then built the church by the cave. The church was originally dedicated to the Annunciation (Shën Mërinë e Sebastes) and was named after Saint Anthony around 1800. It was first mentioned in writing in 1557 by John VIII, Bishop of Bar . It is said to have been the first church in Albania to be formally consecrated .

According to Theodor Ippen - expelled by the Ottomans - the bishops of Durrës resided in the Antonius Church for around 200 years before the bishopric was moved to the neighboring village of Delbenisht in the mid-19th century. So the church was a cathedral for a while.

“About an hour south of Delbeništi, in a pretty narrow valley on a steeply sloping rock, rises a very spacious pilgrimage church, also valued by the Mohammedans, with the remains of a Franciscan monastery that had been abandoned at the beginning of the 19th century. Inaugurated in 1457 according to an inscription on the front, it is called Sebaste by the Franciscans, while it is called Šna Noj (St. Anton) by the people because the festival takes place here on the day of this saint. A cave opens in the rock of the church, which pilgrims also visit. "

- Theodor Ippen : Skutari and the northern Albanian coastal plain (1907)

Shtjefën Gjeçovi later also worked in the Antonius Monastery .

“The way led us past the Franciscan church Šna Noj, mentioned by Ippen ... and lying lonely in the forest. To the west of the ridge on which the church stands and separated from it by a ravine, a hilltop rises up thickly overgrown with bushes ... A wall line stretches around the plateau of this hilltop.

- Camillo Praschniker , Arnold Schober : Archaeological Research in Albania and Montenegro (1919)

Old pictures show a simple church, which the German ambassador Erich von Luckwald called the “small mountain chapel”. It was less than 15 meters long and less than five meters wide.

“People of different faiths also take part undisturbed in the church feasts of the individual Christian denominations, who even bring their sick with them from afar in the hope of miraculous healing. The annual festivals of the Albanian Franciscans on the day of St. Anthony in the mountain chapel Shëna Ndu, which is dedicated to him, near Mamuras, are particularly impressive . The picture of the crowd pouring together from all sides on foot, on horseback or on a donkey in festive clothing is just as touching as it is picturesque. ... From Shëna Ndu, which is on a mountain height, one has an overview of the oak and ash forests of Mamuras ... "

- Erich von Luckwald : Albania: Land Between Yesterday and Tomorrow (1942)

Next to the church there was a much larger monastery building, a pilgrims' house, built in 1956. The construction work on the monastery in the 1950s and 1960s was exceptional for the time when the religious communities were exposed to great reprisals.

Antoniuskirche and monastery building

The church was closed by the communists as part of the ban on religion in 1966, destroyed in 1967 and demolished four years later. As a result, pilgrimages to monasteries were forbidden in communist Albania . However, the authorities did not succeed in stopping the masses of believers who visited the mountain. The monastery became part of a restricted military area. On March 17, 1990, around 60,000 people are said to have gained access to the site and celebrated a service.

After the ban on religion was lifted, the construction of a monastery complex began again in the early 1990s. After three years of construction, the new church was consecrated by Rrok Mirdita in 1995 . In 2004 the monastery buildings were inaugurated. Next to the church there is an altar for outdoor services, dining rooms and other service buildings. An asphalt road leads to a large parking lot above the monastery complex. However, many pilgrims still walk up to the monastery from the city of Laç; halfway through the municipal cemetery, the route turns into a way of the cross.

literature

  • Marjan Prelaj (ed.): Histori e vogël mbi Shejtnoren e Shna Ndout në Sebaste . Botime françeskane, Shkodra 2013.

Web links

Commons : Monastery of St. Anthony of Laç  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Not to be confused with the episcopal town of St. Blasius .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Markus WE Peters: History of the Catholic Church in Albania 1919-1993 (=  Albanian Research . Volume 23 ). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 978-3-447-04784-5 , p. 183 f .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Baki Dollma: Vende dhe ngjarje historike të Krujës e Kurbinit . Dajti 2000, Tirana 2000, ISBN 99943-815-6-3 , pp. 17th f .
  3. ↑ Shpella e Shënavlashit (Shënandoi). In: Agjencia kombëtare e Zonave të Mbrojtura. Retrieved October 8, 2018 (Albanian).
  4. ^ A b Robert Elsie : A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture . C. Hurst & Co., London 2001, ISBN 1-85065-570-7 , Anthony, Saint, pp. 11 .
  5. ↑ a b Shëna Ndou i Padovës: misteri i kishës së Laçit. In: Vatican Radio . June 13, 2017, Retrieved April 13, 2019 (Albanian).
  6. ↑ Jochen Blanken: Sacred buildings. In: German Albanian Friendship Society. Retrieved October 9, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Erich von Luckwald: Albania: Land between yesterday and tomorrow . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, p. 69 .
  8. ↑ a b c d e f Kastriot Marku: Kisha e Shna Ndojit (Shën Antonit të Padovës) në Laç të Kurbinit, monument i arkitekturës së shpresës dhe i sfidës ndaj diktaturës. In: Arkiva Shqiptare e Lajmeve. Gazeta 55, June 12, 2016, accessed October 8, 2018 (Albanian).
  9. ^ Theodor Ippen: Skutari and the northern Albanian coastal plain . DA Kajon, Sarajevo 1907, OCLC 25198388 , p. 67 f .
  10. ^ Theodor Ippen: Skutari and the northern Albanian coastal plain . DA Kajon, Sarajevo 1907, OCLC 25198388 , p. 68 .
  11. ↑ Camillo Praschniker, Arnold Schober: Archaeological research in Albania and Montenegro (=  writings of the Balkan Commission . No. 8 ). Vienna 1919, p. 85 .
  12. ↑ Erich von Luckwald: Albania: Land between yesterday and tomorrow . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, p. 71 .
  13. ↑ Erich von Luckwald: Albania: Land between yesterday and tomorrow . F. Bruckmann, Munich 1942, p. 20th f .
  14. ↑ Markus WE Peters: History of the Catholic Church in Albania 1919-1993 (=  Albanian research . Volume 23 ). Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 978-3-447-04784-5 , p. 233 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 37 ′ 43.6 ″  N , 19 ° 44 ′ 0.5 ″  E