Pogradec, the elite tourist town with over 220,000 visitors

It is one of Albania's most distinguished towns, rich in culture, tradition and natural beauty, where visitors find rest in all four seasons of the year.

Mihallaq Qirio, Director of the Protected Areas Administration for Korçë County, told ATSH that this year more than 220,000 visitors came to the Pogradec tourist area.

The Prespa area alone was visited by more than 80,000 foreign and domestic tourists.

Pogradec and its surroundings are a perennial tourist attraction for the nature, culture and history that give them their grandeur, while the lake lends them their charm.

This summer, around 200,000 holidaymakers – from Pogradec itself and from all over the country and the world – spent their holidays on its shores.

Lake Ohrid is a unique natural pearl, with a wonderful climate, and a place of relaxation and inspiration.

But Pogradec also has many other natural beauties on its outskirts and in the surrounding villages, as well as important cultural and historical monuments that are well worth a visit.

Pogradec has an ancient history and many cultural, archaeological and natural monuments. Archaeological excavations on the hill above the town have uncovered an Illyrian settlement from the 5th century BC, belonging to the ancient Dassaretae and Encheleae tribes.

Over the centuries that followed, the people of the settlement came down to the foot of the hill and founded the town of Pogradec along the shore of Lake Ohrid.

Archaeological finds confirming the settlement of this region date back to the Neolithic period (6000 BC), with population and construction growing during the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages. There are 24 natural monuments and 36 cultural monuments officially documented.

Some of the most interesting monuments where visitors can linger are the ruins of an Illyrian settlement and an early Christian church with a multicoloured mosaic, found in the picturesque village of Lin on the shores of Lake Ohrid.

In the village of Selca e Sipërme, inhabited since the 6th century BC, which sought to join the battles of Alexander the Great, five ancient monumental tombs with carved entrances have been found, testifying to the fame of the powerful ancient city of Pelion, where the Illyrian king Cleitus lived.

The Roman road Via Egnatia, which passes through the region from Ohrid, runs past the villages of Mokra and ends at the Adriatic Sea in Durrës, is another attraction for heritage tourism.

The Golik Bridge (17th century), built over the Shkumbin River, is a trace of this old Roman road.

There are numerous springs, including the Drilon springs, where clean, crystal-clear water flows into the Drilon river and then into the lake. Numerous caves and a church are located near Qafë Thana and the border with North Macedonia.

Paintings made by hermits in the Middle Ages can be seen in the church and on the cave walls. On the Lin peninsula, mosaics dating from the 6th–7th centuries will captivate you with their beauty, while the legend of the 6th-century Byzantine emperor Justinian is most alluring. The ruins of the 4th-century castle on the hill above Pogradec feature some interesting formations of irregular stone walls.

From the old castle, the views of the lake and the mountains are wonderful.

Pogradec Castle stands on the hilltop in the western part of the town, 205 m above the level of Lake Ohrid. It was first inhabited in the 5th century BC, and in the 4th century BC it was fortified with defensive walls.

Pogradec has a museum rich in evidence of antiquity and wartime, the old Orthodox church known as the Church of St Mary, located in the old quarter of Pogradec, and a new church with very distinctive architecture called the Resurrection. The town also has two mosques: one in the town centre and the other in the neighbourhood called Goricë.

Pogradec Beach

It is a sandy beach with clean water and plenty of entertainment. Pogradec also has several other private and public beaches, with sand and fine pebbles. Outside the town are the crystal-clear beaches of Lin and Tushemisht.

Four kilometres east of Pogradec lies the Drilon tourist area.

Pogradec offers many opportunities for water, mountain and heritage tourism.

The road infrastructure is very good, and the town lies at a crossroads linking several of the country's developed towns, such as Korçë, Elbasan and Struga, as well as the road towards Kapshtica and Greece.

Hotels and accommodation in Pogradec are of the highest standard.

Pogradec's cuisine and culinary traditions are also very special and delightful.

A wonder in its own right is the Monastery of Saint Marena, which really takes some effort to reach, as it is several kilometres away and the road is in poor condition.

But for mountain adventurers and hikers, it is within reach. Pogradec, Albania's elite town, can be visited in all four seasons.

ATSH