MIRDITA - Magical cult places - legend trail / 8DAYS TOUR
If you really want to get to know a country and its people, you must not be satisfied with just visiting cities, no matter how interesting they may be. Take opportunities like this to go to places few know to hear authentic things from the locals. To hear their story, to get to know their joys, sorrows, fears, moments of happiness, emotions. Look for landscapes in which nature has entered into a special emotional connection with people, so-called landscapes of the soul. For ages people have been visiting the magical places that give them strength and inspiration. Myths, legends and sagas have formed in all of the places that you need to hear and feel. Mirdita and its surroundings have many such areas with an Illyrian past, mysterious places of worship, primeval rock formations, the sight of which releases energies in your deepest inner being and makes your soul vibrate.
Marianne Graf
The journey takes you to special places with a unique charisma and magic that are still unknown. The journey designed for people who are looking for the extraordinary, not the flashy, but the magical.
You are on the way to paradisiacal secret places that not offered by any common tour operator. You hike up Bronze Age cult sites, roam over high pastures, marvel at deep gorges, experience deeply sad moments from the past and spend the night in small, family-run hotels and guesthouses. The close contact with the locals will make your trip unforgettable.
This trip is for you if:
• You feel drawn to places of power.
• You love hiking in nature.
• You want nature to tell captivating stories.
• You are a lover of untouched landscapes.
• You are looking for traditional dishes.
• You live in traditional guest rooms.
• You want to get in touch with the locals.
• You love the simple, unspoilt country life.
• You want to immerse yourself in old times.
• You love the special.
• Minimum age of participants: 12 years
• Requirement: Endurance
• Participants: 10 to 20
Including
• 7 nights’ accommodation in double rooms
• All meals
• Entries
• Transport by bus and 4x4 cars
• English speaking guide
• Local guides
Exclusively
• International flight
• Drinks, tips, purchase of Mirdita produce and expenses of a personal nature
Program:
Day 1
Tirana - Departure 8:00
We immediately visit the INFOKULLA Mirdita with the Tourist Infopoint and the Museum of the North to get a
comprehensive impression of Mirdita and
the entire north. Here we get information about mythology, history of the region, peasant life, peculiarities of the Mirdita ethnoregion and see valuable ethnological-historical exhibits. We visit the church on the steep cliff, whose apse with the frescoes from 1272 is the only religious sign in Mirdita that has survived the destruction mania of the dictatorship. We meditate on the stone of creation with a life bowl and hear about the goddess Robiko at this ancient cult site, who saved people from a plague in pre-Christian times. After a snack at Culture House we drive to the delightful valley of Katund i Vjeter and check in at the idyllically situated eco-hotel Marub. After a short breather, we slip on our hiking boots and climb up to Marianne Graf Point and the pictogram that keeps alive the memory of prehistoric settlement. A fantastic view of the Fan Valleyand a delicious dinner in the Marub reward our day’s efforts.
Day 2
Departure 8:00
After breakfast, we leave for Fan valley and drive to Shengjin. Here we begin a hike that takes us across small-scale farmland. On ancient settlement ground, we get to know traditional farm life. Traces can be
traced back to the Bronze Age, and in a wider area, the unique stone slab of Xhuxh with the enigmatic pictogram was found (currently in the museum in Tirana). Near the sparse remains of the Anderfajt Castle, we feel a special place of power. We go there, and after a local family offers us a snack. High species diversity and an impressive panoramic hiking trail around Kujt, Klos, Konaj make the day unforgettable. Return to Marub in the evening.
Day 3
Departure 7:30
Today the valley of the Great Fan is on the agenda. We drive to Geziq and enter the ancient soil of the Arber Principality, which appears as the first Albanian state in recorded history (1190-1216). We visit the
Maje Malthi and continue through sparsely populated mountain landscape to Gjegjan. On the right the Ambulanc Gojanit - it is one of the many projects of Marianne Graf, which provided valuable supply services during the time of the Kosovo war, when unimaginable masses of refugees came over the mountains. In Gojan we stop briefly and look at the meander of the Fan river and a rugged mountainside, where the material for ceramics is still mined by hand, which is produced in the oldest combustion technology in the world and unique in the Balkans. Before long, we will turn to the village of Shkoze and visit a small mill. We will have lunch with a friendly farmer’s family. Then our Legends Trail begins at a special cult place: Shpella e Zanave. Here, in the narrow, mystical mountain landscape, we hear the proven miracle of the boy who was healed with the help of mountain fairies. In his descendant family, we had lunch! Now begins the 3 ½-hour hike through sparse forests, picturesque pastures, past shepherd shelters to the place of worship: the chestnut tree from Rrape, which is several hundred years old and is still
visited by the fairies of the highlands. The bus is already waiting to take us to the small town of Fushe Arrez and on to Kryezi with the guesthouse Makry, where we can look forward to two social evenings.
Day 4:
The day belongs entirely to Kryezi. We will get to know the village, visit mountain pastures with cattle sheds and a picturesque old settlement above the village. A special highlight is the next fascinating place of worship, the
romantic, legendary waterfall of Kryezi. Here, in the fresh forest air, we find the filling station for new energies. We leave burdens behind and listen to the wondrous legend of the water woman and the shepherd, while the mountain stream rushes into the natural stone basins. The evening is reserved for a glass of wine near the fireplace
Day 5
Departure 7:30
A busy day lies ahead of us. We head south again and turn left. In Reps we switch to four-wheel drive cars and let ourselves be taken to the most notorious place in Albania on a gravel road with
many curves. The Spaç mine, at the same time an oppressive former penal camp and mining prison, reminiscent of the terror of the Hoxha era. After a depressing tour, we drive on a narrow mountain road up to 950 m to Gurth Spaç. A completely different world opens up to us. The Natura Magica Spac Guesthouse welcomes us in a magnificent setting. The afternoon is used for a first-class discovery hike. The bell tower, lynx watchtower, medieval sheep pen, water mill and above all the place of power with the chapel built over a spring are counterpoints deliberately built by Marianne Graf to the madness of the mining prison on the lower slope. After all the experiences of today, we will spend the evening and the night in the special atmosphere of the eco hotel.
Day 6
Departure 8:00
It’s time to say goodbye to this incomparable place. We drive back towards the district capital Rrëshen, turn left and reach Urake after 17 km.
After switching to 4x4 cars, drive to Bruç and from there about 3km walk to the caves Shpelle e Blazit, e Keputit, e Nezirit and I Valit, which were settlement areas for prehistoric cultures and are rare in number and size in the country. On the forecourt of the Neziri Cave, which served as a place of worship for people as early as the Neolithic Age, we strengthen our bodies and souls. We enjoy the time in this primeval environment filled with special energy vibrations. Back in Bruç, you now head through fascinating, constantly changing parts of the landscape to the high plateau of Lufaj. “Tranga Adventura”, a traditional family fortified house, is our goal and will anchor itself in our hearts as an extraordinary guesthouse.
Day 7
We dedicate the entire day to the spectacular, unknown Lufaj plateau. After breakfast, we immerse ourselves in a world that you thought you had already lost. Small farmsteads, abandoned stone houses, old fruit trees and wooden fences
line our way over thousand-year-old high pastures. The local guides will proudly take us to the high-pressure water tank, because after 3000 years of settlement history, Lufaj got drinking water for the first time in 2022 from a complex pumping system from a depth of 260 meters. This will be toasted with raki at the adventure snack point. After a delicious traditional lunch, we visit the magical realm of stalagmites and stalactites where the cave dragon resides. In the late afternoon, we will hike to a unique magical place accompanied by a shepherd. The Square of Peace with the inspiring Maria Anna Chapel is a miniature paradise. We let our eyes wander from high mountains to the glittering ribbon of the river Mat deep below us. Full of special impressions we return to our hostel in absolute peace.
Day 8
Departure 9:00
We say goodbye to this highland that is unique in Albania and far beyond. The desire to stay in this place with its magic is great. But Rubik with his agro center calls and invites you to buy handicrafts or
agro products made in the regions we visited. After a lunchtime snack, return to Tirana and with that, an extraordinary journey ends.
PHOTOS (1)
