Saint Procopius Church of Tirana

Saint Procopius Church of Tirana is an orthodox church on the outskirts of Tirana, Albania. It was one of only two orthodox churches that existed in the city before World War II, the other one being the 19th century Evangelismos Church, which was demolished in 1967.

History

In 1787 the Bargjini family, feudals of Tirana, gave the permit to the Vlach Orthodox community of Tirana to construct the church, as a compensation for the protection that the community had offered in the local defense of the city against the attacks of Kurt Pasha of Berat. The church was built around 40 years later, and its construction was half underground, whereas no bells were allowed, as was the law for newly constructed churches in Muslim countries. The church had dimensions of 22m long and 13m wide. The construction in 1874 of the Evangelismos Church, in the central plaza of Tirana (later demolished in 1967), entailed a smaller attendance to the Saint Procopius Church.

In 1940 a new urbanistic plan for Tirana was approved. The Orthodox community of Tirana accepted moving the old church into a new building, around 25m over the level of the old one, and around 400m away from it. Kristofor Kisi, then primate of the Orthodox Church of Albania entrusted Skënder Luarasi, a young architect with the new building. Ing Lucca & Co, Milano-Napoli was the company that built it, and the new church was ready in 1942, and inaugurated in 1945, right after World War II.