Church of All Saints, Upper Himara

The church of All Saints is approximately a 5-minute walk from the ancient town, near the entrance of Himara’s castle city. Around 1775, at the request of Kosmas the Aetolian, a church was erected near the Castle’s entrance. When Saint Kosmas arrived at Himara, he was shocked to see that there were already 150 churches. The legend goes that on Sundays and holidays, 300 bells rang across the community. Every household had their own church where they worshiped. In order to reconcile them, he encouraged them to construct a single cathedral for all the saints and convinced them to attend the Orthodox liturgy.

During the communist era, the church of All Saints was used as a storage and suffered extensive damage and devastation. Attempts against the Church’s life have been made on occasion. Only in 2012, there were two robberies attempted; this time, the target was 9 iconostasis columns considered to date from the 18th century. This iconostasis is one of the few of its sort in the nation, giving it a unique and exceptional value. The artefact, along with the church itself, was part of a restoration effort undertaken by the Autocephalous Orthodox Church in the years 1999-2000.