Shen Gjergji Church, Strum

Shen Gjergji Church in Strum, Fier, is an important cultural heritage treasure, built in 1782 and painted by the Çetiri brothers from Grabova. This monument stands out for the architecture and artistic values it brings to attention.

The church is located about 1 km north of Strum, on the right side of the highway that connects Strum with the village of Suk i Poshtem. With a length of 10 meters and a height of 3.5 meters, the church is a rectangular building, oriented from east to west and covered by a flat roof. Two gates, one in the north and the other in the west, give access to this religious building.

At the time of construction, the church had a single nave (worship hall) and an apse. These parts were simultaneously decorated with frescoes by the Çetiri brothers, well-known robber painters. Today, however, the frescoes are in poor condition, leaving the best part of them on the western part of the north wall of the church.

The bell tower of the church, rebuilt in 1935, has a height of seven meters. In its inscription it is written about an important event, "The repair of the bells under the guardianship of Lil Çobo and Lil Stambolli on August 25, 1935 by usta Vasil Lapi."

The entrance of the church is special, 1.8 meters high and decorated with sculpted white stones, imitation of ancient columns, and a vault with two rosettes above it. In this area there is also the inscription that defines the year of construction, April 1782.

The construction of the church was carried out with the use of limestone from local quarries and with the use of marbles brought from ancient buildings. The building was plastered inside and carried an essential atmosphere of religious belief. The iconostasis and other objects inside the nave are missing, but two parts of ancient columns and a Doric capital can be seen on the unpaved floor of the shrine, which indicates the use of materials from the nearby city of Dimali.

Shen Gjergji Church in Strum is an important sight of the cultural heritage and architecture of the medieval period in Albania.