It is believed that the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II had the monastery built on the hill of Ardenica in 1282, and that this foundation is connected to the emperor's victory over the Neapolitan troops at Berat. In 1967, the monastery was forcibly dissolved by the communist rulers, but instead of being destroyed like so many other religious buildings in Albania, it was declared a cultural monument and maintained as such. In the late 1980s, the monastery complex was converted into a tourist hotel; the monks' cells served as rooms. In 1992, the Orthodox Church of Albania regained possession of the monastery church. Immediately thereafter, a priest was sent to Ardenica, who again held regular services. It took years before the outbuildings and land were also returned. Since the mid-1990s, a community of monks has once again lived in the monastery.
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