Saint Veneranda Church

This church, known in historical literature as “Santa Veneranda”, is located in the central part of the village of Balldre, on the hill, about 5 km from the city of Lezha and dates back to the 12th–13th century. The village of Balldre and the Church of Saint Veneranda itself have a special connection with the powerful Dukagjin family. In the 14th century, the Principality of Dukagjin, based in Lezhë, owned all the territories from Lezha to Prizren. On the occasion of the division of territories between the Dukagjinas brothers in 1368, one of them, Gjergji, obtained Zadrima, where according to “Acta et Diplomata”, (document no. 726), his property included Balldren with the church dedicated to Saint Veneranda.
Milan von Šufflay (1879 – 1931) says very clearly that this church, in the 15th century, was under the patronage of the chief lord of Perlat and, as it is known, the Perlat were a branch of the Dukagjini.
The Church of Saint Veneranda in Balldre (Sancte Venere) is mentioned by Pope Gregory XII himself in his letter to the Archbishop of Tivar (Antivar/Bar) on May 23, 1407, asking him to take measures for the release of 12 churches occupied by the Bishopric of Lezha at the expense of the Bishopric of Arbër. The church is mentioned in 1610 in the relation of the archbishop of Tivar, Marin Bici, who claims that this church “it has chalices and has pretty good clothes. It has a square bell tower, but no bell”.
Also, this important object of the Christian cult is frequently mentioned during the 17th - 19th centuries in the church relations sent to the Holy See in Rome by the bishops of Lezha about the situation in their diocese.
The church presents a rectangular construction, covered with a sharp vault, with the semicircular apse on the eastern side. It has two gates and the interior space illuminated by five narrow windows.
The Church of Saint Veneranda is preserved in its entirety, with all its architectural constituent elements. From a detailed study of the walls and structures, it is clearly understood that the monument has undergone many changes, since several construction phases have been developed on it. Above the narrow window of the apse, which belongs to a reconstruction, a slightly damaged stone with an inscription measuring 49 × 14 cm is serving as an architrave.
The inscription, which lacks several letters, is inscribed in Latin: "AN[N]O D[OMINI] M[C]CCCLXXII / MEM[EN]TO D[OMI]NE FAMUL[ORUM] / TU[OR]U[M] PERLATARUM CUM / O[MN]IB[US] SUIS AM[ICIS]” (IN THE YEAR OF GOD 1462. REMEMBER, O LORD, YOUR SERVANTS PERLATES TOGETHER WITH ALL THEIR FRIENDS).
The continuation of the old masonry towards the south and the apse, ruined on this side, speaks of a second chapel attached to the church. This chapel has been completely rebuilt on old foundations, faithfully following the typology of St. Veneranda's Church and, recently, has been adapted as an archaeological mini-museum, where some very interesting objects, discovered during the last restoration of the church in 2019, have been exhibited.
While the element that makes this church even more special regards the many remains of a number of wall paintings, placed in two overlapping layers, mainly located in the interior part of the eastern walls and in the apse that were discovered in 2002 under plastering layers. What catches the eye the most is precisely the fresco of “Last Supper”, made by arbër painters about two centuries earlier than Leonardo da Vinci realized his masterpiece “Last Supper” (1495–1498) in Milan.
The Church of Saint Veneranda in Balldre is a medieval Arber architectural masterpiece, which carries great historical, cultural and spiritual importance, preserving and presenting with great charm a precious part of the national and religious identity of the Albanian people. It was declared a Category I Cultural Monument in 1984.