Lengarica Canyon

About this place

Lengarica Canyon is a narrow rock canyon carved by the Lengarica River in southern Albania, one of the largest tributaries of the Vjosa, about 32 km east of Gjirokastër in a straight line and a few kilometres from the town of Përmet. The river runs hard through a rocky canyon hidden among the forests of the Dangëllia and Shqeria mountains and calms only a kilometre before it meets the Vjosa. The road to it turns off the Përmet to Korçë national road for just 200 to 300 metres. In winter the river swells between the canyon walls and each year reshapes the ground around the old stone Kadiu Bridge, a rare cultural monument. Grey and golden limestone walls rise straight up on both sides of a narrow channel of clear water, closing in places to a slit where light falls from far above. Outside the canyon, green hills and high mountains stretch in every direction. In summer visitors wade up the shallow riverbed between the canyon walls, cross the Kadiu Bridge, and relax in the nearby Bënja hot springs at its mouth. The water is cold and the rocks slippery, and walking inside the canyon is not possible when the river is high in winter and spring.