Curative nature and fantastic landscapes
The day Përmeti was born on earth, God must have been inspired by his love of nature because he painted the city as a timeless landscape, where mountains, hills, rivers and forests will remain as beautiful as the first day, even with secrets for to discover. This explains why to this day the original Roman toponyms have been preserved such as the name of the Vjosa River that runs through the entire valley.
The Langarica River was born from the abrupt waters of the Vjosa; winter hardy and sage like the Permians in the warm seasons. Langarica flows between a spectacular canyon of the same name, inside of which he finds unimaginable caves. The Langarica stream is distributed in numerous tributaries. The streams are joined by warm waters that, despite the cold rivers, are at a temperature of 29-30 degrees Celsius every day of the year. These are the thermal springs of Benja, a rare natural phenomenon, with the help of which hundreds of people seek refuge for rheumatic disorders, or for skin and kidney diseases.
Known since antiquity, these sulfur springs, which emerge from a deep tectonic fault, are different and originate on both sides of the Lengarica canyon. Each source has different therapeutic properties for the treatment of skin diseases, stomach, kidneys, rheumatism, etc. The springs of thermal waters are natural and are poured into small bathtubs of a precious beauty inside of which it is possible to collect even thermal mud, suitable for skin training.
Surrounded by unspoiled nature, this place presents a unique blend between adventure history and nature. In addition to the thermal baths, there is also the Lengarica Canyon and the Kati Bridge.
Lengarica Canyon
The canyon is located about 200 meters away from the thermal springs on both sides of Lengarica. The flow of the river makes on both shores there is a rich and diverse vegetation where inhabited by a host of birds and wild animals, rare for the area. The canyon is famous not only for its natural values but also for its archeological ones. Research in recent years has concluded that there were prehistoric dwellings in the canyon caves.
Katiut Bridge
A few kilometers above its outflow in Vjosa, exactly in the baths of Bënjë is the Katiu bridge, a bridge of interest and relatively well preserved. Built on rocky shores it is of interest in terms of architectural composition and constructive solution. In the center of the bridge composition is the main arch in the form of a circular segment with a light space of 15.5 m and a height of 6 m above the water level. Including the coffin, the arch vault is 1 m thick and is made of slab limestone. At the bottom of the bridge at the front of the arch are still preserved two metal hooks for fastening the front stones. The cobblestone of the bridge, with a length of 2.65 m is built of slab stones placed peg. On both sides of the joint rise 5 cm, on the cobblestones two transverse rows of river stones, which facilitate climbing on the ridge of the bridge.
The type of Katiu bridge, a bridge with a ridge, with a horizontal accent, with a main circuit and a smaller one on its side, is a very popular type in Albania in the 18th century.
