Sazan
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Sazan Island (Template:Lang-sq-definite)Template:Efn is an Albanian uninhabited island in the Mediterranean Sea. The largest of Albania's islands, it is a designated military exclusion zone; it lies in a strategically important location between the Strait of Otranto and the mouth of the Bay of Vlorë, marking the border between the Adriatic and Ionian seas.
In 2010, Template:Convert of the island's surrounding marine area was designated as the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In clear weather, Sazan is sometimes visible from the coast of Salento, Italy, to its west. The island has been open to the public since July 2015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The island has a surface area of Template:Convert. It is Template:Convert long and Template:Convert wide, and its coastline measures about Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Antiquity
Sazan was known as Sason (Σάσων) to the ancient Greeks, and Saso to the ancient Romans. Pseudo-Scylax mentioned it in his Periplus.<ref>Pseudo Scylax, Periplous, §26</ref> Polybius wrote that there had been a military encounter there in 215 BC between the forces of Philip V of Macedon and the Romans. The island was part of the Roman Empire, and later came under Byzantine rule.
Medieval Period
In 1264, a naval clash known as the Battle of Sazan took place off the island, between the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Venice.
In 1279, it was captured by the Kingdom of Albania, and in the 14th century, it was held by Albanian lords, often under the protection of the Republic of Venice.
In 1371–1372, following the seizure of Vlorë by the Balsha noble family, many inhabitants fled to the nearby Sazan Island, where they placed themselves under Venetian protection. Although the Balshas retained control of the surrounding mainland territories such as Vlorë and Kaninë, Venice effectively exercised practical control over Sazan. By the late 1380s, Comita Muzaka, widow of Balsha II, formally recognized Venetian dominion over the island by providing an annual tribute of rowers for the Venetian fleet, confirming Venice's legal authority there.Template:Sfn
A contemporary record from 18 September 1372 in Ragusa records a maritime incident involving Sazan island. Jurça, a sailor, appeared before the rector Ser Johannes de Grede to complain about Potrentinus, his brother Miralia, and Goico Stanče of Vlorë, who were then residing on Sazan Island. He reported that in June of the previous year, they had captured him along with two of his ships, seizing fifteen gold ducats, two swords, three shields, a bow with its string, a barrel of wine, and two sacks of cloth. They also detained him and his sailors for a full month. This event is documented in the "Lamento de foris 1370–1373."Template:Sfn
By 1393, Sazan was securely acknowledged as under Venetian control, while Vlorë and Kaninë remained under Comita's authority. Following Comita's death, her daughter Rugjina Balsha's husband, Mrkša Žarković, ruled the Principality of Vlorë from 1396 to 1414, after which Rugjina Balsha herself ruled from 1414 to 1417. Eventually, the advancing Ottomans captured the region, and by 1418, Vlorë and the surrounding bay, including Sazan, fell under Ottoman control.Template:Sfn
Before the establishment of Ottoman control, Sazan Island was an important maritime and religious site in the southern Adriatic. The island hosted a Marian shrine, recorded in Italian sources as S. Maria della Suazi, and later identified with the Greek Orthodox chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary. By the late 15th century, a second chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas is also recorded on the island. These religious sites were part of a broader network of coastal shrines devoted to Mary and St Nicholas, including S. Maria de Casopoli in Corfu, and S. Maria de le Scanfarie in the Strofades Islands, reflecting the island's role as both a spiritual sanctuary and a navigational landmark. Sazan was located along a perilous stretch of the Adriatic, where sailors faced dangerous currents, storms, and the risk of shipwreck, and its bays provided a sheltered anchorage. Monastic buildings on the island contributed to its reputation for holiness. Marian and St Nicholas shrines were frequently paired along Adriatic maritime routes, reflecting their role in providing protection to seafarers. Pilgrimage itineraries and liturgical sources, such as the Sante Parole, mention Sazan Island and indicate its importance as a religious site for travelers during the Late Middle Ages.Template:Sfn
By the late 15th century, Sazan had become an important Ottoman naval base in the Adriatic. A contemporary travel account by Arnold von Harff in 1497 described Sazan as a very fine harbour where the Ottomans regularly stationed ships. The island contained two small Greek Orthodox chapels, one dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the other to Saint Nicholas, and was also used by the Sultan to graze valuable horses. The Ottoman forces launched their 1480 expedition across the Adriatic to Apulia and Calabria from Sazan, leading to the capture of Otranto.Template:Sfn
In the early 16th century, the Ottoman admiral and cartographer Piri Reis, in his book Kitab-ı Bahriye, completed in 1521, described Sazan as a navigational landmark. He noted the presence of drinking water and a landing place on the eastern side of the island, as well as the ruins of a church; possibly the remains of the chapels mentioned by Arnold von Harff a few decades earlier. Piri Reis also advised anchoring in ten fathoms of water to avoid the rocky seabed, and warned of a submerged reef nearby.Template:Sfn
By 1696 it fell back into Venetian suzerainty.
Modern Era
In 1815, it came under the protection of Britain along with the Ionian Islands, which were made an autonomous republic.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1864, the island was ceded to Greece along with the Ionian Islands.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> But Greece did not occupy it, and it came under the de facto control of the Ottomans. It was not until the First Balkan War, in 1912, that Greece landed soldiers on the island and formally claimed it, calling it Sasona (Σάσωνα). After the end of the Second Balkan War in 1913, Italy and Austria-Hungary pressed Greece to evacuate all of southern Albania, including the island. Due to the risk of starting a war with Italy, Greece evacuated it.Template:Cn
Italy in turn occupied it on 30 October 1914, and established a military commander on the island, which is called Saseno in Italian. This was later ratified on 26 April 1915 by the secret Treaty of London. After World War I, Albania formally ceded the island to Italy on 2 September 1920 as part of the Albano-Italian protocol.
The island was part of Italy from 1920 until after World War II, administratively part of Lagosta, in the province of Zara. In those years the Italian authorities built a lighthouse and some naval fortifications, and populated the island with a few families of fishermen relocated from Apulia.<ref>Olinto Mileta. Popolazioni dell'Istria, Fiume, Zara e Dalmazia 1850–2002. ediz. A.D.E.S. Trieste, 2005</ref> The island had its own local post office and issued special Italian stamps overprinted with "Template:Lang". The island was united to the Italian Governorate of Dalmatia in 1941 during World War II and ceded to Albania on 10 February 1947, under the postwar peace treaty with Italy.
Post–World War II
During the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Albania relied heavily on the Soviet Union. During that time, the Soviets built a base for Whiskey-class submarines and a chemical/biological weapons plant on the island and surrounding areas. The island stationed around 3,000 soldiers during this period.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref> After the fall of communism four submarines remained at Pasha Limani port in the bay of Vlore.<ref name=SazanSubase>Template:Cite web</ref> To this day, many Soviet-era gas masks can still be found scattered around the valley of the island.
The island now is uninhabited but there is a small Italo-Albanian naval base, of reportedly two soldiers, used mainly to counter contraband between southern Italy and Albania, as a training field for the British Royal Navy and as shelter for boats in nearby Albanian waters.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=SazanSubase/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> There are approximately 3,600 nuclear bunkers which were built by Albania during the Cold War.<ref name=":0" /> There is also a villa on the island belonging to the former communist defence minister Beqir Balluku. In 2010, the island's surrounding sea waters, and those of adjacent Karaburun Peninsula were proclaimed a National Marine Park by the Albanian government.
Environment
Geography and climate
Sazan is the largest island in the country and Albania's westernmost point. It is strategically located at the entrance to the Bay of Vlorë, in the eastern Strait of Otranto separating Italy from Albania. It is also located at the informal junction line of the Adriatic and Ionian Sea inside the Mediterranean Sea, which is just to the south according to international scientific bodies.
The island is composed of limestone rocks, which was formed during the Cretaceous period, while the eastern part is partially composed of terrigenic and cleistogenic deposits.<ref name="SIecology">Template:Cite web</ref> It has four peaks, the highest standing at Template:Convert above sea level followed by two peaks in the center Template:Convert and Template:Convert, and the lowest with Template:Convert in the south of the island.<ref name="SIpeaks"/> Sazan has a coastline of about Template:Convert characterized by sandy beaches, capes, rocky cliffs and underwater fauna.
Along its western shore the cliffs descending up to Template:Convert underwater. Capes of the island include the Bay of Paradise (Gjiri i Parajsës), Bay of St. Nicholas (Gjiri i Shënkollit), Cape of Shënkoll, Cape of Kallam, Cape of Jug, Cape of Pëllumba, and Cape of Pulbardha.<ref name="SIpeaks"/>
The island has a climate unusual in Albania, due to its maritime location. It is not mediterranean but rather subtropical on account of its warm winters and hot summers.Template:Citation needed The climate and vegetation resemble those of the south of Crete in Greece, Tunisia and even parts of Egypt. The flora is different from that of the rest of Albania in that it is subtropical. A small tornado or waterspout was spotted along the coast coming inland in August 2002.<ref>http://www.tornadoit.org/lefoto28.htm Trombe marine e tornado sull'isola di Saseno (Albania) nell'agosto 2002, Tornadoit.org</ref>
Flora and fauna
Biogeographically, Sazan Island falls within the Illyrian deciduous forests terrestrial ecoregion of the Palearctic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub. Due to the combination of southern geographic latitude and high altitude and as well the variation of climate, geological and hydrological conditions have contributed to the formation of a unique flora inside the island.
The variety of flora and vegetation can be explained by its strategic position between the western and eastern Mediterranean Sea.<ref name="SIflora">Template:Cite web</ref> The island is home to 435 species (419 indigenous) of vascular plants, or 8.2% of Albania's entire vascular flora.<ref name="SIflora"/> There are only one endemic (Limonium anfractum) and three subendemic (Centaurea pawlowski, Scutellaria rupestris and Verbascum guicciardini) plants.<ref name="SIflora"/> The varied relief creates various ecological environments for plants, further diversified by the dominant rock types which form siliceous and calcareous terrain on the territory of the park. The rocky shores and limestone sea cliffs on the southern corners of Sazan are home to numerous halophile species such as Lotus cytisoides and Limonium anfractum.<ref name="SIflora" /> The forests of Sazan are generally composed of shrubs, sclerophyll forests with holm oak, deciduous forests with hophornbeam and south European flowering ash.<ref name="SIflora"/>
Due to its specific topographic, climatic, hydrological, and geological conditions, the island has unique vegetation and biodiversity. The fauna is represented by 15 species of mammals (including 8 species of bats such as the common pipistrelle, and soprano pipistrelle<ref name="SIfauna" />), 39 species of birds,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 8 species of reptiles, 1 species of amphibia and as well as 122 species of invertebrates.<ref name="SIfauna">Template:Cite web</ref> The bird species in Sazan with high conservation value include 23 songbirds, 5 bird of preys, 3 pigeons, and 3 swifts.<ref name="SIfauna"/>
The amphibians are represented by 1 of which include the green toad nesting in the wet deciduous forests and the forest streams. There are eight reptile species. The Mediterranean house gecko, Hermann's tortoise, Balkan pond turtle, sheltopusik, blue-throated keeled lizard, Balkan wall lizard, Montpellier snake, and Balkan whip snake are present in most rocky and wet natural habitats on the island.<ref name="SIfauna"/>
There are 122 identified species, including 113 insects, but their actual number is estimated to be higher.<ref name="SIfauna"/> Among the insects forty are beetles, sixteen butterflies, twenty-two heteroptera, twenty orthoptera, five dragonflies, and ten hymenoptera.<ref name="SIfauna"/>