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Albania Gift -  Saranda City Fridge Magnet

Sarandë or Saranda (Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα, Agioi Saranda,) is the capital of the District of Sarandë, Albania, and is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean, 2 nautical miles from the Greek island of Corfu. The city of Saranda has a population of about 30,000^[2] (2001 estimate). Near Sarandë are the remains of the ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Alongside its ethnic Albanian majority, Saranda is home to an ethnic Greek minority and considered one of the centers of the Greek minority in Albania.

In antiquity the city was known by the ancient Greek name of Onchesmos (or Anchiasmos) ^[3][4][5] and was inhabited by the Greek ^[6] tribe of the Chaonians. Onchesmos flourished as the port of the Chaonian capital of Phoenice^[7][8] (modern-day Finiq). In 552 CE it experienced repeated attacks from the Goths^{[citation needed]}.

Its current name comes from the name of the Byzantine monastery of the Άγιοι Σαράντα (Agioi Saranta) literally meaning "Forty Saints" in Greek, after the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, traditionally commemorated by the Orthodox Church on 10 March.

The town was included under the newly formed Albanian state in 1913, under the terms of the Protocol of Florence.^[9]. It was occupied twice by Greece in 1913 and 1914–1916, by Greek insurgents of the Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus in 1914 and by Italy between 1916 and 1920^[10]. Saranda was again occupied in 1939 by Italian forces and was a strategic port for the fascist forces of Italy. It was then temporarily called "Porto Edda" in honor of Edda Mussolini, the eldest daughter of Benito Mussolini, during which time Albania was annexed to Italy. In the meantime, it was also known by the Italian name Santi Quaranta (Forty Saints). During the Greco-Italian War the Greek army occupied a large area of southern Albania (called "Northern Epirus" by the Greeks) and the city came under Greek rule on 6 December 1940 until the German invasion in Greece and the consequent withdrawal of the Greek army in the spring of 1941.

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