Location: Saranda
Blue Eye is a very beautiful tourist place located
in the village of Muzina, Delvina District, near the national road
Delvina - Gjirokastra. It is a very picturesque point where from a
blue spring of karstic origin from the Broad Mountain comes a
crystal clear water. From the depths of the spring the water takes
on the blue color under the rays of the sun. It is the largest and
most interesting spring among the 18 springs that erupt at the foot
of the wide mountain. It has been declared a natural monument. Its
shape is oval similar to the shape of an eye, erupting from the
ground dark in the middle and blue on the side. Its depth is
extremely large, reaching deer at a depth of 45 m. It is located
opposite the village of Krongj, 45 m below the level of the Drino
valley and is the main discharge of the wide mountain. It is a
source of fresh and sweet water surrounded by dense vegetation and
evergreen.
The source of the Bistrica River, which flows
through a southern part of Albania, really resembles a large round
eye with a diameter of about ten meters. The baby eye, a deep well
pit, from where the water climbs upwards like in a cauldron that has
just started to boil has a blue to black color. It comes then
surrounded by the blue part of the eye which becomes such because
the depth of the fountain there is less.
Local legends say that in the area around the spring, the Blue Eye in ancient times was inhabited by an evil dragon who stopped the river from flowing. He stole local virgins and dragged them to a secret cave, where he ate them. Finally the hero came and killed the dragon. The body of the beast was burned, but its eye was thrown out. He became the source of the Blue Eye spring and the source of the Bistrita River. The source of this legend is still contested by local elders. Some consider this legend as the struggle between evil and good. A dragon that stops the water and kidnaps the girls is hated, and the fact that the eye of this slain dragon becomes a source of life as if it is emotionally disorienting, merging good and evil into a single one. However, the meaning of this legend, like many others similar to the dragon, is clear. It symbolizes man's attempt to defeat evil, or the blind forces of nature, and to pave the way for life; but also his dependence on nature.
Getting here is pretty easy. You can choose a day trip with daily trips from Saranda, or you can rent a car and get here by GPS. You can also take a taxi for 30 euros. The road to the spring. The blue eye leads through winding, steep mountain roads through different landscapes; from palm trees on the shore to green and mountain forests.