Shirgj Monastery
| Manastiri i Shen Shirgjit dhe Bakut | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | 1290 |
| Disestablished | No longer active |
| People | |
| Founder(s) | Helen of Anjou |
| Site | |
| Location | near Obot, Shkodër County, Albania |
| Public access | yes |
The Shirgj Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shirqit/Shirgjit) is a ruined former Benedictine monastery in the village of Shirgj on the Bojana River in northern Albania. The church was built by Serbian Queen Helen of Anjou in 1290, dedicated to Saints Sergius and Bacchus (hence known as Serbo-Croatian: Crkva Sv. Srđa i Vakha), seemingly on top of a pre-6th century basilica.
The church was built in 1290 by Helen of Anjou, queen consort of the Serbian Kingdom, wife of Serbian king Stefan Uroš I, and mother of kings Dragutin and Milutin. Apparently the monastery was constructed on top of an existing structure: according to apocryphal documents, the original monastery is mentioned as erected by Justinian, whereas in other sources its existence is mentioned as an abbey starting from 1100. The presence of a pillar of black granite, a material which originates from Syria and was often used in 6th-century basilicas in Albania, demonstrates that the construction of the original building may indeed lie in the 6th century.
A document dated 22 October 1330 mentions the monastery as the rendezvous point of the king of Rascia with ambassadors of Ragusa. In another document dated 1333, the monastery is mentioned as the customs' place of the kingdom of Rascia.
In the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja, it is alleged that several members of the Vojislavljević dynasty of Duklja were buried here, such as Mihailo I, Constantine Bodin, Dobroslav, Vladimir and Gradinja.
...
Wikipedia