Monastery of St. George

It is located on a hill that rises in the narrowest strip of land that separates the Ionian Sea with Butrint Lake at the top of the Ksamil Peninsula. Churches and three buildings remain from the construction of the monastery. The monastery is surrounded by a high and strong stone wall, where many turrets have been opened for protection. A building is to the southeast of the Church near the perimeter wall and at the highest point from where a wide view opens from all sides. Its closed position and shapes must have served for observation and protection, the connection between the floors is realized with stone stairs from the outside that end in a veranda supported on an arch. Another two-story, open building is on the southwest side of the church. On the ground floor the gallery opens with an arcade on thick square stone columns, while on the upper floor it is more elegant and rises on thin stone columns. The church fully preserves the nave, the narthex and the altar. The nave is one-nave with internal dimensions of 8.20 x 5.40 m. The altar area is separated by a wall iconostasis with three entrances. It contains the wide and protruding apse of the prosthesis and the diaconicon. The structural solution dates the church to the end of Cen. XVII- beginning of XVIII. Today, the Monastery and the Church are in very good condition as they were completely restored in 2008 by the Gjirokastra Metropolis. The masonry of the building on the southeast side is built of bound stones and lime mortar and is reinforced with wooden strips which are hidden from the outside. The hall of the nave is divided into three parts. The central part with a square configuration is covered with a dome over the drum, while the two sides are covered with cylindrical arches. The internal spatial composition is also reflected in the external volumetric composition. Pyramidal composition with the drum holding the dome in the center rising above the cubic volume of the central part.