HISTORY
The history of Sazan Island, from Saso to the marine park
Sazan has had several names and more than one ruler. This page follows it from the Greek Sason and Latin Saso of antiquity to the Italian naval outpost of Saseno, its return to Albania in 1947, decades as a closed military island and, since 2015, a place where day visitors can land.
Sazan's history at a glance
In little more than a century Sazan went from Italian possession to a closed Albanian military island and then to a protected place open to visitors. These are the turning points in order; the sections below explain each one and name their sources, and the main sources are listed at the end of the page.
- Antiquity: known as Sason in Greek and Saso in Latin.
- 1914: held by Italy, which called the island Saseno.
- 1920: Albania recognises Italian possession of the island.
- 1947: the Treaty of Peace with Italy recognises Saseno as Albanian territory.
- Cold War decades: a closed military area.
- 2010: the surrounding sea becomes part of Albania's only national marine park.
- July 2015: the island is opened to the public.
Ancient names: Sason and Saso
In antiquity the island was known as Sason in Greek and Saso in Latin. The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica still wrote of "the island of Saseno, the ancient Saso", joining the Italian name to the classical one. Later stories of ancient battles and medieval bases on the island are left out here, because their sources could not be verified.
1914–1947: Saseno under Italy
From 1914 the island was held by Italy, which knew it as Saseno. According to the Treccani encyclopaedia's entry on Vlorë, Italian forces occupied the town on 28 December 1914; when Italy handed Vlorë back to Albania under the Tirana agreement of August 1920, it kept only the island. In that year Albania recognised Italian possession of Sazan.
The Italian encyclopaedia Treccani records that the Italian-Albanian treaty of 3 August 1920 confirmed Italy's title, and that the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris ratified it on 9 November 1921. For the next quarter of a century Saseno was Italian territory, about 5 km off the Albanian coast.
1947: back to Albania
The Treaty of Peace with Italy, signed in Paris on 10 February 1947, returned the island to Albania. The draft article recorded in the US State Department's Foreign Relations series reads: "Italy recognizes that the Island of Saseno is part of the territory of Albania and renounces all claims thereto."
Decades as a closed military island
Under Albanian rule Sazan was a closed military area for many years. Albania's National Tourism Agency describes the remains of a military base on the island, with tunnels and buildings from the Cold War period, and the National Coastline Agency notes that the island's naval military port was built in Shën Kolla bay on the east coast.
Many popular stories about what the base contained are not backed by reliable sources, so they are left out here. What remains visible today are abandoned bunkers and buildings, seen from the outside.
2010 and 2015: a marine park, then open to visitors
In 2010 the sea around Sazan and along the Karaburun peninsula was declared the Karaburun-Sazan National Marine Park, Albania's only marine national park. It is classed as a national park (IUCN category II), and a 2022 government decision enlarged it slightly, to about 12,400 hectares, according to the National Agency of Protected Areas.
Five years later, in July 2015, the National Coastline Agency opened Sazan itself to the public. Visitors who land there today cross the protected waters of the park to reach it.
Sazan today
In the 2026 season the island works as a day destination under military oversight. Triton reports that the docking pier is supervised by the Albanian military, with landing hours of 08:00 to 19:00, that entry is free, that an investor runs the beach, and that sunbeds, umbrellas, food and drinks are for sale on the island.
