Marmiroi church ( sq, Kisha e Marmiroit) is a church near

Pashaliman Orikum or Pashaliman is a town and a former municipality in Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Vlorë. It was named after the ancient city Oricum, which was located ...

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; sq, Qarku i Vlorës) is one of the 12 counties of the Republic of Albania with the capital in Vlorë. The county spans and has a total population of 187,675 people as of 2021. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastë ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It is declared a

Cultural Monument of Albania In Albania, a cultural monument ''()'' is a construction or work of cultural, historical and artistic value that is built in a visible space, made in memory of important events or prominent people. Cultural monuments are usually under state protect ...

. The church is mentioned in historical records for the first time in 1307. Since it has no

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

, and because of other similarities to other similar churches in Bulgaria and former Yugoslavia, it is thought to have been built in the 12th or 13th century AD, although some researchers have put its construction period in the 10th century at the end of the middle Byzantine era. The most accredited hypothesis is that it was dedicated to Saint

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

, in particular to the Mother of God of the

Life-giving Spring The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (Greek: ''Ζωοδόχος Πηγή,'' ''Zoodochos Pigi'', Russian: ''Живоносный Источник'') is an epithet of the Holy Theotokos that originated with her revelation ...

(''Zoodochos Pege''). The church is located at the gulf of

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

near the archaeological site of

Oricum Oricum ( grc, Ὤρικον, Ὤρικος or Ὠρικός; lat, Oricum or ''Oricus''; sq, Oriku or ''Orikum'') was a harbor on the Illyrian coast that developed in a Ancient Greek polis at the south end of the Bay of Vlorë on the southern Adr ...

References

{{Byzantine architecture in Albania Byzantine church buildings in Albania Cultural Monuments of Albania 10th-century churches 12th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings 13th-century churches Buildings and structures in Vlorë Churches in Vlorë County