Shen Premte Church, Çetë

Shen Premte Church in Çetë is an important treasure of cultural heritage in Albania. Unlike most churches of this period, this church is one of the few Gothic-Roman churches that has survived in the Albanian territory and has a rich and unique history.

The church is thought to have been built in the 13th century, the period when Regnum Albaniae was created and developed. It represents a Gothic-Roman architecture, which is rare in Albania. At first, the church was erected as a Catholic building of the Benedictine order. This is a testimony of the Catholic civilization that existed in this area at that time.

In 1691, after the inclusion of Albania in the Ottoman period, the church became orthodox and was painted with icons from the inside. The Zografi brothers were the ones who painted the surrounding walls of the church with icons, but most of them were destroyed in a fire that occurred during the period when the church was left in oblivion, as a result of the declaration of Albania as an atheist country after the Second World War.

Because of this rich history, the walls of the church bear traces of its diverse past. The church has gone through the ages changing its faith and destination from Catholic to Orthodox, indicating significant historical and cultural changes in the region.

The church is composed of three main parts: the altar, the narthex and the nave. A special element is the sun figure on the floor, which brings additional interest as it is associated with the cult of the sun, a belief from the pre-Christian period. It is suspected that there was a connection between the builders of the church and the three horsemen who were passing through that area.

Also, local legends surrounding the construction of the church bring a mystical and historical feel to the place. These tales describe a young girl from Cheta who has asked her father to build a church, following a dream of an important discovery. The destruction of religious buildings in 1967 spared the church of Saint Premtes, thanks to the protection of the locals, despite the changes in their beliefs.