Monastery of 40 Saints

The Monastery of 40 Saint is a damaged Eastern Orthodox monastery in southern Albania overlooking the seaside city of Sarand. The monastery was built in the sixth century AD and may have been the most prominent pilgrimage place in the Ionian Sea region for at least a millennium. The monastery's name, Agioi Saranta (meaning Forty Saints in Greek), was moved to the nearby city of Onchesmos. The land was turned into a military base under the People's Republic of Albania (1944-1991). Only a portion of the basilica-style church's side walls remain today.

The monastery was most likely constructed during the time of Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527–565 AD) and served as a shrine until Albania's communist era (1944-1991). The monastery complex includes a basilica church, hostels for pilgrims and other visitors, underground tunnels, holy water springs, and crypts. There were forty little chapels in the underground rooms, each dedicated to one of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste who were martyred during the Early Christian period. During the High Middle Ages, the monastery's name was changed to Onchesmos, a neighboring seaside city. Sarandë, the contemporary settlement, grew out of this.

Location: Sarandë, Albania