The 500-year old Saint Maria’s Sleep Church in the village of Kosine, in the southern Albanian district of Permet, the second oldest church in the Balkans, has been fully has been restored to its former cultural and architectural glory and values.
This was the first project to resurrect the 12th century Byzantine church, which hadn’t been restored since the ’80s.
The member of parliament and former Culture Minister Mirela Kumbaro said that the restoration of the landmark church turns the village of Kosine into an important tourist destination. “It is one of the oldest 12th century churches, featuring a very peculiar architecture. Thanks to the good cooperation with the Orthodox Church, the church in the village of Kosina was included in the “Roads of Faith” programme for restoration of landmark religious sites. The church has now been resurrected to its former glory. Local residents wanted the church restored as the area is increasingly becoming an agritourism destination. The church was in ruins. The surrounding area has also been rehabilitated.”
The restoration works consisted in studying the church’s static stability, consolidating and reinforcing the entire retaining structure, restoring the floor, roof, windows, removal of the vegetation, and consolidating the surrounding wall.
The Head of the Monuments of Culture Institute Arta Dollani said “this is one of the most beautiful churches with its circumscribed cross. All the wall cracks were consolidated as part of the latest investment. Many of the wall cracks were injected in order to stabilize them in terms of structure. The investment’s next phase includes restoration of the murals as inspections show that church is home to many frescoes. Walls contain several painted plaster layers. The art sector team has conducted surveys and has discovered various stages of paintings within the Church. Several paintings and murals have been found.”
