Voskopojë, the Albanian Village with the Most Beautiful Frescoed Churches in the Balkans

In the heart of the High Mountains of Korçë, at about 1,150 metres above sea level, a village of a few hundred souls guards what the Balkans don't show in tourist guides: five 18th-century churches painted inside like Byzantine cathedrals, in a place almost nobody knows. Voskopojë — once called Moscopolis — was the most flourishing city in the entire Ottoman Empire during the first half of the 18th century, with twenty-four churches, a printing press that was among the first in the Balkans outside Istanbul, and the New Academy founded in 1744 as a centre of Enlightenment thought.

The rise and fall of a forgotten metropolis

At its peak, around 1750, Moscopolis had fifty thousand inhabitants — more than Sarajevo at the time — and traded wool and hides with Venice, Vienna and Constantinople. Then the raids came: the city was sacked and burned three times in twenty years at the end of the 18th century, reduced to a village, bombed in World War II. Of twenty-four churches, six remain, but what they contain is dazzling.

The churches and their frescoes

The Church of Saint Nicholas preserves frescoes by the painter David Selenica in the outer narthex and works by the Zografi brothers in the inner naves: deep blues, vivid reds, figures of saints that seem to move in the light filtering through the tall windows. From the outside, the churches look like rustic stone barns — a deliberate choice to avoid attracting Ottoman attention. Entry is free; interior lighting relies on candles and torches that visitors bring from home. The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has financed the most urgent restorations, but much remains to be done.

Getting there and getting around

Voskopojë is reached from Korçë, about 20 kilometres away, by taxi (10–12 euros round trip with waiting time) or by renting a car. The paved road is passable year-round, but in winter snow can make the journey challenging. There is no accommodation in the village: you sleep in Korçë and come as a day trip. The best period is May to September; avoid August if you want total silence.