Travel Guide Proud

Fier/Fieri has a population of around 50,000. It is the capital of the municipality (120,000 inhabitants) and of the Fier district (288,000 inhabitants). The town lies 38 km north of Vlora, 61 km west of Berat(via Lushnja), 80 km south of Durrës. It can be reached by minibus from all three towns and from Tirana.Unattractive and surrounded by oil wells, Fier is nevertheless a must-see: it lies next to the great archaeological site of Apollonia of Illyria. It was completely rebuilt in 1864 on the initiative of Omer Pacha Vrioni (1839-1928), a powerful Bektashi notable. He wanted to create a new commercial and craft center along the Gjanica River. To this end, he commissioned a French architect - a certain Barthélemy - who drew up the city according to plan. This explains the wide avenues that criss-cross the town. Today, Fier lives from agriculture and, above all, from the exploitation of its subsoil where, in 1928, the largest oil reserve in continental Europe was discovered. On the way to Berat, the road passes through a depressing landscape of derricks, wasteland and tanker trucks. The town center is dominated by two large religious buildings: a huge mosque financed by Saudi Arabia in 2005 and the Orthodox Cathedral of St. George (Katedralja e Shën Gjergjit). The latter, which dates back to the 18th century, has been extensively remodeled. It originally incorporated elements from Apollonia.