Private Car & Driver Tour of Elbasan City and Petrela Castle

Elbasan is a historic city placed at the heart of Albania, home to the Summer Day festivities, a pagan feast holiday celebrating the end of winter and the start of summer. Upon arriving to Elbasan, you’ll be visiting the city Castle. Inside the castle you’ll visit the Saint Mary’s Church (Byzantine era church and the King’s Mosque, built during the Ottoman era on 15th century.

St. Mary's Church

In the middle of the city’s castle, you’ll visit the Saint Mary’s Orthodox Church. The church was built between 15th – 16th centuries. It was built entirely in stone carved in the shape of a cross, which can still be seen today. After a fire in 1819 the church was rebuilt in 1830 on the original foundations. It has been an important cultural center for the Albanian language especially during the end of 19th century. The church building served as the first Albanian school of Elbasan in modern times, which opened in 1909. Because it had served as a school it was granted the status of cultural monument and was spared from the massive destructions of churches and mosques during communism regime in 1968.

King Mosque

Another jewel inside the castle, a testament of harmony between religions in Albania is the Architectural monument, Kings Mosque. A stone carved building with a wooden roof and a prayer hall in the middle and portico in the front, typical for the mosques of the 15th century. During communism regime the mosques tower was destroyed. The main building was spared to be used for other purposes. The mosque was restored in 2013 and is now open to the community for daily prayer. Must note that if prayer is in session, we have to postpone the visit inside until the prayer is finished.