Albania · Southern Albania

Liqeni i Pasha Limanit

Directions

A shallow coastal lagoon at the southern end of the Bay of Vlorë, beside Orikum and the ruins of ancient Oricum. Birdwatchers know it as a salt marsh and a long-used bird-ringing station.

History

Greek colonists founded Oricum in the 6th century BC, on a low hill between the sea and the lagoon. A small theatre, once seating about 400, and the city walls remain, with a partly repaired stairway up to the acropolis. West of the site, at the foot of Karaburun, is the Pashaliman naval base, where Soviet submarines were anchored in the 1950s until the break between Tirana and Moscow. The 13th-century Marmiroi Church, with its frescoes, stands on a hillock among the reeds on the south side of the lagoon.

Nature

The lagoon is part of the managed Karaburun protection area and an Important Bird Area, and eels and molluscs live in it. Terns, great egrets and grey herons stop here on migration. Moustached warblers, pygmy cormorants, purple and squacco herons, marsh harriers and teal are among the birds to look for, and in the 2021 Eurobirdwatch count there were 590 slender-billed gulls. Several species new to Albania were first found at its ringing station.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

Minibuses run often between Vlorë and Orikum, in about half an hour. For the birds, park at the Tani bar-restaurant, where a flat, unpaved path of about 4 km runs between the lagoon on the right and the marshes on the left, past the sewage treatment plant; it can be walked or cycled and has a birdwatching hide. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, and a telescope is useful.

The ancient site lies in a military area behind the Pasha Liman gate, with a checkpoint, and visitors have been admitted on weekdays from 8:00 to 16:00, so ask in Orikum first. The naval base itself is closed. Marmiroi Church is the starting point for marked trails onto the Karaburun peninsula, including the route to Brisan Bay.