Municipal workers, fire services, and civil emergency structures will be on the ground, according to the Mayor of Kurbin Majlinda Cara. Complementing these efforts, parish priest Dom Land Jaku announced that the Church of St. Anthony has finalized all arrangements to ensure a smooth pilgrimage.

For years, the Church of St. Anthony in Laç has drawn thousands of citizens from across Albania. Culminating on June 13, every Tuesday transforms this holy site—which transcends all religious boundaries—into a unifying epicenter of prayer and pilgrimage for people from every corner of the country.

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The site in northwest Albania remained frequented even during the communist era, though visits were not organised. The church was destroyed in 1971 under the former regime and rebuilt in 1990, shortly before the revival of religious practices in the country.

The Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) on Tuesday recalled a 1995 photograph from the early years of renewed religious freedom, when the pilgrimage had resumed and began drawing large crowds.

Each year, the site attracts significant numbers of pilgrims during this period, with attendance in the final days estimated to reach up to 500,000 visitors. Many believers hold that spending a night near the church can bring healing and good fortune.

The church dates back to around 1300, when it was first built by Franciscan friars. After attending the site for 13 consecutive Tuesdays, pilgrims gather for the main day of St. Anthony, which falls on June 13 and draws worshippers from across Albania and the diaspora.

The pilgrimage season begins in March and culminates on June 13, blending religious devotion with a long-standing cultural tradition.

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Minister of Health and Social Protection Albana Koçiu wrote in a post in the social media that, “This center will be in service 24/7 for all citizens and pilgrims who visit this blessed place”.

“The health of every visitor is a priority for us, so with the team of doctors and nurses we are ready to provide the necessary care at any moment”, emphasized Koçiu.

Specialist of the local medical care unit Ermal Meraj said that, “This center was recently opened within the framework of the initiative of the Ministry of Health and Social Protection to provide health services to citizens who come to tourist spots”.

“The center will be open non-stop until the end of the tourist season. It is rather useful for all citizens who visit the church of St Anthony during this tourist season”, said Meraj.

The annual pilgrimage of the 13th of Tuesdays closes today at the church of St. Anthony in Laç. The believers come from all cities in the country, where a large part of them stay overnight in the premises surrounding the church, turning this event into an important spiritual moment. /k.s/p.s./

A total of 375 quake-affected families will soon move into their new houses in the residential block that meets the urban infrastructure standards with paved streets, green public spaces, lighting and a newly-constructed health care centre for local residents.

The government head Rama was accompanied by the Minister of Justice Ulsi Manja, also the Socialist Party’s political delegate to Lezha district, and the Mayor of Kurbin, Majlinda Cara.

Kurbin Mayor added that construction of more 60 apartments is nearing completion and the lot for the first 60 quake-affected families will be drawn in July, while entire new complex will complete within this year.

“The new residential block features 270 apartments, 6000 square meters of underground infrastructure and parking spaces. The ground floor houses commercial and service establishments that will fuel local economy,” Cara said.

She added that “construction of related underground infrastructure, the sewerage; wastewater and rainwater systems has completed.”

“Around 50 new businesses will operate in this residential block,” she said.

PM Rama asked Mayor Cara about progress in construction of municipal hospitality in Laç.

“Work on construction of the hospital is running on schedule. Construction of five health care centres is currently underway in Kurbin,” Cara said.

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Children ensembles from Albania, Kosovo, Ukraine, Montenegro, Türkiye, Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina performed folkloric songs, dances and traditional games, turning the town’s main square into a huge stage of culture and arts.

The Mayor of Kurbin, Majlinda Cara shared images of this folkloristic festival.

The event aims at strengthening friendship among children in the Balkans and a wider region, preserving national identity and popular tradition in an increasingly opened world to globalism, and promoting the town of Laç as a tourist destination.

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“The first Tuesday of the year and dozens of believers visit Shna Ndou Church,” PM Rama wrote as he shared images of the holy site.

The Saint Anthony Church, built on the hills over Laçi town, is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Albania.

The church is named after the Franciscan priest, born in Lisbon in 1195, who dedicated his life on earth to his faith and spreading hope to the people.

The Church of Laç was built by the Franciscans as early as the 1300s. Despite the communist regime’s strict ban on any religious activity, Albanians believed in this saint of miracles so ardently that they secretly climbed the hill to faithfully seek his help. To this day, the people’s march toward the Church of Laç is such an impressive sight that it has attracted the attention of international media.

Each Tuesday starting as of by mid-March until 13th of June, the Saint’s Day, on the hilly heights around the town of Laç, about one million believers from all over Albania gather at the Saint Anthony Church of Laç to worship and pray for good health, harmony and prosperity.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama shared today some photos showing the transformation of the citizen service spaces at the Regional Directorate of Road Transport Services in Laç.

Rama said that a few years ago this directorate used to be flooded by heavy rains, endangering the building, while today it is renovated into dignified conditions for 64,626 drivers./p.s./

Prime Minister Edi Rama shared this morning a photo of this waterworks which improves the quality of life for nearly 30,000 local citizens of Laç.

The infrastructure of Laç water supply system was completely degraded since 1965 with a 55-year-old network. Likewise, 88.2% of consumers were didn’t have any water meters in their houses.

While Kurbini’s water resources are among the highest quality, cleanest and with the largest flows in the country, thousands of local residents could not access the vital water for them and the development of the area.

Meanwhile, there are made significant investments in the city that have changed a lot the lives of the residents and have created conditions for new investments either in entrepreneurship or in the use of natural resources. /p.s./

The healthcare facility, constructed from scratch under the post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction programme launched by the government in the wake of the devastating and deadly tremor that hit Albania in November 2019, has been best equipped to deliver high quality care services and meet the primary care needs for local residents through the use of a modern infrastructure in line with the optimum conditions and standards.

Prime Minister Edi Rama saw firsthand the brand new hospital premises, accompanied by the Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu, and the medical personnel.

Prime Minister Edi Rama delivered a speech at the inauguration ceremony.

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Hello everyone,

I am very happy that the inauguration of the new hospital here coincides with this special day of Mother Teresa’s sainthood, a day that is naturally experienced and celebrated in a very special way in this part of the country, also due to the eternal presence of St. Anthony, locally known as Shna Ndou church, a pilgrimage site visited by a countless number of Albanian nationals from all over Albania and from other Albanian-speaking territories.

I am very pleased that on this day, while inspecting the new hospital venues, I noticed a group of young physicians, who have already joined the Kurbin hospital personnel to provide their contribution and deliver quality health care after graduating with excellent grades.

I would like to emphasize this because we often happen to hear claims that Albania’s health system is battling shortages in staffing, because doctors and nurses are leaving the country. Indeed, for the sake of truth, I am very pleased to state that we face no shortages in health care system staffing, despite the undeniable fact that a certain number of young nurses and doctors may leave the country and it is their right to test themselves elsewhere, but we have set up a system to ensure reasonable distribution of young human resources upon completing the specializing degree programs. We have set up a more rationalized distribution system of the human resources than it used to be a few years ago, when we inherited a huge deep and unexplainable hole and lack of specialized physicians due to the closure of the specializing degree program for several years.

A decision made by the previous governments and one we have been unable to explain.

The situation is different now and we can combine expertise of the experienced doctors, the ones who share the whole burden of the health care system during the toughest of times, as it is the case of several doctors I had the honour to meet today, and the newly-graduated physicians, who join the system with the passion to deliver care service and the ones that by providing such conditions, like the ones in this hospital, by making available state-of-the-art equipment and devices, like the ones we have installed in this hospital, we encourage, motivate and cherish in them the willingness to work in Albania, and work together with experienced doctors deliver best quality care services to local community and make residents feel good the way they are admitted to the hospital and provide best treatment to them.

And I am really very happy anytime I visit this area here, because not only I see and inspect what has been already done, but also I best realize that many more things will be done to transform and give this area a whole different look.

The government will keep increasing the salaries of doctors, nurses and all health workers, as well as the salaries of teachers. I also hope that we will be able to announce good news for the retired people soon, as we owe them a lot and whatever we can do for them, we will never be able to pay back our debt to them.

Thank you very much everyone!

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Prime Minister Edi Rama and the Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu inspected the premises of the new hospital facility, describing it a model for the municipal clinics throughout the country.

In her remarks, Health Minister Manastirliu said that “Kurbin has now not only a brand new hospital, but also a healthcare centre built in line with our new design for the municipal hospitalities, taking into account the demographics, incidence, and the area’s social and economic elements.

The new hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and it covers an area of around 2800 square meters and it includes integrated systems of medical gases, ventilation, equipped with new biomedical equipment.

“With construction of the new hospital in Kurbin and the new maternity hospital in Lezhe complete, we will begin rehabilitation of the Lezha regional hospital and reconstruction of the clinic in Mirdita in the next six months,” Manastirliu said.

The new hospital in Laç has a capacity of 40 beds and it will provide emergency services, imaging, laboratory, surgery, pathology, maternity, paediatrics and physiotherapy etc.

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