Located in the village of Mborja, the Orthodox Church of the Resurrection of Christ (Kisha e Ristozit) is small (7.5 m high). But it is one of the most precious medieval buildings in the country, housing remarkable frescoes from the ^14th and ^17th centuries. It was founded in the ^9th century, during a period of Bulgarian domination, and was remodeled in 1389, when Mborja was a major Byzantine trading center, an emporion (the name Mborja is derived from this Greek term). It was because of its historical importance that the building escaped destruction by Enver Hoxha. The dictator even allowed the great French medievalist Alain Ducellier (1934-2018) to come and study the church in 1981. Major exterior work was carried out in 2015-2016 to prevent the walls from collapsing. The edifice comprises two spaces: the Greek cross church is itself enclosed in an L-shaped narthex that forms both the vestibule and the south gallery. The frescoes in the narthex were painted in the ^17th century by artists from the Kastoria school (Greece).

Little devils and Christ the Redeemer. The program in the narthex is dedicated to the Last Judgment, with a host of monsters, wild animals, torture scenes and salacious details, such as this poor woman tied up and raped by a devil. The whole is dominated by Christ with open arms, praying for the salvation of souls. In the lower register, the Mother of God holds the Mandylion, a cloth on which the image of Christ's face was miraculously printed during his lifetime. The 1389 dedication has been reproduced on the beam. But the original is in the church, on the door lintel. Passing through the doorway, we discover the ^14th-century frescoes, generally well preserved despite the lack of restoration. The program is typically Byzantine: portraits of saints and Byzantine personalities, the Passion cycle, and the vast scene of the dormition of the Mother of God above the lintel. To the right of the door is a portrait of St. Constantine, the first Christian emperor, and his mother St. Helen, who brought back the relic of the True Cross from the Holy Land. In the next corner appears the 1389 donor, Bishop Nimphonos, carrying a scale model of the church. The apse is adorned with Christ Emmanuel, surrounded by the Church Fathers in priestly vestments. The iconostasis was removed in 1967. But one of the precious ^14th-century icons, that of Archangel Michael, is on display in the "white balcony" of the National Museum of Medieval Art.