Osum Gorge

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Osum Gorge south of Çorovoda

The Osum Gorge ( Albanian  Kanion / ii Osumit ) is a canyon of the Osum River in southern Albania . It is located just south of the city of Çorovoda in the Skrapar region , which is south of Berat .

Vertical walls shape the gorge

The canyon is a total of 13 kilometers long. The gorge comprises six narrow sections that range from four meters wide in the river bed to 35 meters wide further up the sides of the gorge. The limestone walls, which often fall vertically and reach heights of 70 to 80 meters, are characteristic. The upper beginning of the gorge is around 350  m above sea level. A. , the lower end at Çorovoda at about 300  m above sea level. A. It is believed to have been formed by water erosion two to three million years ago. There are many underground passages and unexplored caves along the gorge. Especially in spring, numerous waterfalls thunder over the rock faces into the gorge. It is widely believed that the river flowed underground many years ago, but over time the rock above the river disappeared, creating the current shape of the canyon.

After a distance of around two kilometers without steep walls and a wider river bed. To the south of it there is another roughly two-kilometer-long deeply cut gorge, the walls of which, however, are no longer quite as high. About eight kilometers to the east there are other gorges on the Osum, the canyons of Miçan.

The edges of the canyon have an unusual ecosystem that preserves the greenery on both sides of the canyon all year round. Mediterranean bushes such as heather and thorn bush thrive together with a rich flora and fauna. On the slopes of the gorge, erosion has created pockmarked cave walls with small caves. Some of the rock formations in the Karst have fanciful names such as Cathedral , Eye, and Demon Door .

The Osum Gorge is one of the most spectacular natural attractions in Albania and can be explored by rafting and canoeing in spring and early summer if the water level is sufficient . The rapids are class II so you don't need any previous experience in whitewater to navigate them. At the end of summer, when the water is lower, the gorge is not navigable. When the water level is low, the gorge can also be hiked through, although some narrow passages must be swum through. There is an option to hike around the gorge.

The locals tell many legends such as those of Mulliri i Babait , Vrima e Nusës and of St. Abbas Ali , who is said to have left a footprint in the stone here and for whom the Bektaschi a tekke was built over the eastern edge of the gorge. From the mill Mulliri i Babait , the remains of the mill canal carved into the rock can still be seen in the southern gorge.

On the eastern slope above the gorge, an asphalt road runs from Çorovoda to the south. The narrow gorge is only clearly visible in a few places. The Ura e Prishtës bridge around eight kilometers south of Çorovoda offers good visibility. Five kilometers further south the road changes sides of the river.

Since 2002 a 13 hectare area around the gorge has been protected as a national natural monument .

Web links

Commons : Osum Gorge  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kanioni i Osumit on the website of the Albanian Agency for Protected Areas (Albanian) ( Memento from April 28, 2019 in the web archive archive.today )
  2. ^ Official map 1: 50,000 of the military cartographic office of Albania, sheet K-34-125-D, 2nd edition 1983.
  3. ↑ Official map 1: 50,000 of the military cartographic office of Albania, sheet K-34-125-C Ballabani , 2nd edition 1983.
  4. ↑ Akademia e Shkencave e RPSSH (ed.): Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë . tape 2 : Vështrim fiziko-gjeografik krahinor. Tirana 1991, p. 318 f .
  5. ^ Rafting in the Osumi Canyons. In: Albania Rafting Group. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Jochen Blanken: Natural wonders. In: German Albanian Friendship Society. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  7. ↑ The Bride's Hole. In: Visit Skrapar. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  8. ^ The Footprint of Abaz Aliu. In: Visit Skrapar. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  9. ↑ The Father's Mill. In: Visit Skrapar. Retrieved March 21, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Irena Toçi: Berat - Two and a Half Millennia of History, Art and Culture . Ed .: Albanian Heritage Foundation. Toena, Tirana 2013, ISBN 978-99943-1-715-8 , pp. 108 f .

Coordinates: 40 ° 28 ′ 12 ″  N , 20 ° 15 ′ 18 ″  E