Declared a Monument of Culture (1st category), in 1960s the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour (Kisha e Shpërfytyrimit, Shen Sotira) building dates 1784. It is also called the “Old Metropolis” (Mitropolia e Vjeter), as it once served as the seat of the local Orthodox bishop. It is located in the Old Bazaar/Market District at the foot of the Castle of Gjirokastra. It is a three-aisled basilica with barrel vaults roof. The masonry is built with layered stones and with many details carved in stone. It is roofed with stone tiles too thus replicating some of the outstanding unique architectural features of the UNESCO city part of which this church is. After 46 years of complete abandonment and serious damage restoration works were undertaken as part of the bigger restoration of the Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania, which had collapsed by the persecution by the world’s only “atheistic state” and along with it the restoration of belief.
