Histoires cachées du communisme Saranda
Description
Le voyage pour le Communism Tour est fourni dans un monospace moderne et climatisé, assurant un voyage confortable et agréable. Nous vous proposons un ramassage et un retour à l'hôtel pratiques sans frais supplémentaires si votre hébergement se trouve en dehors du point de rendez-vous principal de Saranda, et avec des petits groupes limités à 8 personnes, vous recevrez une attention personnalisée de notre Guide professionnel spécialisé dans l'histoire de l'époque communiste de l'Albanie. • Découvrez une autre facette de Saranda, au-delà des plages. Cette visite courte et intense combine une vue imprenable depuis une colline panoramique, des bunkers cachés de l'époque communiste, des monuments spirituels et une histoire forte. Nous commençons par un voyage au point d'observation sur la ville, l'Ionie et Corfou. Puis nous descendons vers une base anti-aérienne secrète avec des tunnels et des positions d'artillerie. Nous visitons le monastère des 40 Saints, symbole historique qui a donné son nom à Saranda, et nous terminons par un arrêt dans une mosquée locale pour comprendre la résurgence de la foi après le communisme.
Options de l'excursion
Itinéraire
Départ de Saranda et Scenic Drive vers Nearby Hill (9 : 00 – 9 : 15, 15 minutes) : Nous partons de Saranda dans un minivan confortable et climatisé, direction une colline voisine avec vue panoramique. Tout au long du court trajet en voiture, notre Guide professionnel présente l'ère communiste albanaise sous Enver Hoxha, en situant le contexte de la journée d'exploration de cette période unique et isolante de l'histoire.
Visite des tunnels souterrains et des bunkers sur la colline (9 : 15 – 10 : 15, 60 minutes) : Nous explorons des tunnels et des bunkers authentiques de l'époque de la guerre froide construits pendant la paranoïa d'invasion du régime. Conduit par notre Guide Expert, vous entendrez des histoires réelles et glaçantes de la vie sous le communisme - y compris la surveillance, le travail forcé et le projet massif de bunkerisation qui a parsemé l'Albanie de plus de 173 000 structures.
3. Visite du monastère des 40 Saints (10 h 30 – 11 h 15, 45 min) : Nous continuons vers le monastère historique des 40 Saints, admirant son architecture byzantine et son emplacement pittoresque. Le Guide explique comment le régime communiste, après avoir déclaré l'Albanie premier État athée du monde en 1967, a réaffecté ce site sacré en base militaire, détruisant ou fermant des édifices religieux dans tout le pays.
Visite de la Grande Mosquée de Saranda et exploration de son architecture (11 : 30 – 12 : 15, 45 minutes) : Nous visitons la grande mosquée de Saranda, où vous admirerez son élégante architecture d'influence ottomane et en apprendrez davantage sur ses éléments clés : le mihrab (niche indiquant la direction de La Mecque), le minbar (pulpit pour les sermons), la zone des ablutions (abdeshane), et le minaret gracieux. Le Guide discutera du renouveau de la religion après la chute du communisme en 1991, partageant des histoires réelles et percutantes de la façon dont les croyants pratiquaient secrètement leur foi pendant le régime – prières cachées, rassemblements clandestins, et les risques immenses encourus sous de graves persécutions.
Retour à Saranda avec Réflexions et collation traditionnelle facultative (12 : 30 – 13 : 00, 30 minutes) : Nous retournons à Saranda, avec le temps de questions et de réflexions sur ce chapitre sombre mais formateur de l'histoire albanaise. Arrêt optionnel dans un spot local pour déguster du byrek traditionnel et du dhallë rafraîchissant, ajoutant une touche culinaire authentique (départ à Saranda vers 13h00)
Points forts
Ce qui est inclus
Avis des voyageurs
Informations importantes
- Animaux d'assistance acceptés
- Transports en commun disponibles à proximité
- Condition physique moyenne requise
Avis(13)
This is a small family operation and not one of those big bus tours. I was privileged to be the only person on the date I chose. Ermal had some great personal stories and anecdotes about the area and it's history. I recommend sturdy walking shoes for the rubble of the ruins and maybe pants. There was some tall grass and a few spiky plants around the bunker. Overall it was a really enjoyable morning and I am really glad I signed up for it!
Jean, your words motivate me a lot to keep moving forward. For me, it was a privilege to meet such a wonderful person in every detail. With your kindness and sincerity, you made our tour a truly enjoyable experience. I am very grateful.
I really enjoyed this tour because I am passionate about war history and military equipment. The guide had excellent knowledge of the World War II period. Experiencing those feelings was amazing. The best part was going deep into the underground tunnel. It was scary because there was no lighting, but it was worth it.
We learned a lot from you during the tour day. Your passion for the military truly left us speechless. I really appreciate your knowledge. It was a pleasure spending time together. Best regards, Ermal
So this tour was just a little unusual and not what we've experienced in the past with other similar type tours. It was a local daughter/father who hosted the tour. We were picked up at your lodging on time and then we picked up the father near the hill side stop to start the tour. We paid a small admission and then walked to the old Soviet bunkers. We probably spent about 45+ minutes there learning about their history and the Soviet era in Albania. What was odd/different was that the daughter basically read various history articles from her phone to us with her father adding some comments along the way. They did answer our questions and overall it was a good historical review but the presentation was just very different. Next we walked through the monastery of the 40 saints for about 30 minutes and learned its history(again via the daughter reading articles from her phone). We ended the 2 hour tour by walking down the road to a recently built mosque and then we were driven back to our lodging. Again, the daughter/father were very nice and shared a lot of history/information but it was just odd having history articles read to you from someone's phone.
: We are truly sorry that we did not meet your expectations. Your comment is very valuable for helping us improve, and we appreciate it. Thank you. However, please do not think that we were simply reading from the internet. At that time, we had made some changes to the structure of the tour, and the content was still quite new for us, so we had not yet managed to memorize everything. We were reading from notes on the phone that we had carefully prepared through long work with history books and personal interviews.
I really enjoyed spending time with the guides. They are a father and daughter duo who were very kind and informative. A tour with locals who share their perspectives and want other to learn more about the history of communism and the impact it has directly from first hand experience. They answered all my questions and the father had a great sense of humor which helped lighten up a bit of some very difficult history. The daughter is impressive in her maturity and respect she shows to everyone around her. She was leading the tour and did an amazing job translating many things when necessary aswell as providing details about the history of communism in Albania. The father provided more perspectives and real life stories on the impact this history has had for him.
Yeyry! We consider you a dear friend and we hope to see you again. We have so many beautiful memories from that tour. You are simply fantastic!
The Cold War tunnels were very mysterious, but it is unfortunate that they are not well maintained. The guide had very good knowledge of the history of that period and explained the events with a great sense of humor. The agency staff are members of a family who strive to be friendly and very professional.
I really enjoyed this tour. We were in Saranda and chose Hidden Stories because we are very interested in the past history of Albania. The guide was friendly and had a lot of knowledge about the places we visited. I recommend it
We had an amazing tour with a lovely local father–daughter duo who took us through a communist-era military bunker perched above Saranda. The spot itself is incredible — with sweeping views over the city and a panoramic look across to Corfu — but what really made it special was their deep knowledge and personal insight. They brought Albania’s communist history to life, answering all our questions about what it was like to live in a completely cut-off state. It was equal parts fascinating, eerie, and eye-opening — a wonderfully weird, off-the-beaten-track experience that we’ll never forget! Highly recommend this tour to anyone looking to understand Albania beyond the beautiful beaches.
Good experience. Beautiful view. Best staf and friendly. Good and fast service it was nice day in Saranda. I recommend it to others.
A wonderful private tour led by a father/daughter duo which rewards patience and interest in Albanian history. We explored the ruins of the C6th monastery and Cold War bunkers and finished with a peaceful visit to the mosque. Ermal confirmed pick up time/place by WhatsApp the day before and the tour lasted a little under 2 hours. Recommend good shoes as the sites are very crumbly.
It was an amaizing experience.The Islam history was something new to me .It was was very courageous to enter underground spaces
