Location Shijon | ||
Similar St Nicholas' Church - S, St Mary's Church - Elbasan, Naziresha Mosque, Holy Trinity Church - Lavdar i, Byzantine Church - Lin | ||
St. Jovan Vladimir's Church (Albanian: Kisha e Shën Joan Vladimirit) is a church in Shijon, Elbasan County, Albania. It is dedicated to the son in law of the Bulgarian Tsar Samuil - Saint Jovan Vladimir. It became a Cultural Monument of Albania in 1948. The first temple is the oldest large tzar Samuil times orthodox basilica, rebuilt as present church by the Topia family in 1381. During the 18th century Kostandin Shpataraku painted the walls of the church.
An Orthodox monastery grew around the church, and became the seat of the newly founded Archdiocese of Dyrrhachium in the 18th century. Gregory of Durrës, the archbishop of Dyrrhachium from 1768 to 1772, wrote there the Elbasan Gospel Manuscript, the oldest work of Albanian Orthodox literature.