Minister Highlights Lini’s Paleochristian Basilica as a Summer Attraction

Lini, a picturesque village on the shores of Lake Ohrid, about 22 km from Pogradec, is one of the favorite attractions not only for local visitors but also for foreigners, CE Report quotes ATA.

Following recent extraordinary archaeological discoveries, where Lini is considered the oldest pile-dwelling settlement ever found in Europe, it is attracting even more foreign tourists.

The Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation, Blendi Gonxhja, shared today on social media footage from Lini, where many tourists have visited closely to take photos and explore the beauty of ancient mosaics.

“Lini, the oldest settlement in Europe, which this summer has been a magnet for tourists, not only with the beauty by Lake Ohrid but also with the Paleochristian Basilica, a rare monument preserving magnificent mosaics from the 5th-6th centuries,” Gonxhja wrote in the post.

The Basilica of Lini was visited this season by 4,735 tourists, of whom 3,298 are foreigners and 1,437 locals.

In recent years, several guesthouses have been built in Lini, welcoming hundreds of tourists from all over the world.

Lini, the small village by Lake Ohrid, which appears immediately after descending Qafëthanë in Pogradec, has rare beauty and breathtaking scenery.

Legend says that once the Lini peninsula was a beautiful island with dense vegetation. Life on this peninsula started in the early Iron Age (to which the famous mosaics of Lini, located on the hill, also belong) and continued until the Early Middle Ages. There are many stories about the origin of the name.

One says that when Julius Caesar's soldiers arrived at this hill, they were so amazed that they shouted “Lyhnidas,” which means “Lake of Light.”