Cave of Saint Blaise, Pilgrimage cave near Saint Anthony Church in Laç, Albania

The Cave of Saint Blaise (Shpella e Shën Vlashit) is a small cave in Laç, Albania, held by tradition to be where the local Saint Blaise lived. It stands close to Saint Anthony Church, dedicated to Anthony of Padua and built in 1556, and remains a pilgrimage site.

Local tradition holds that the cave was where Saint Blaise lived. According to Robert Elsie, this Blaise was not the Saint Blaise of Armenia but a local figure who was tortured in Durrës and died in Ragusa. The nearby Saint Anthony Church, dedicated to Anthony of Padua, was built in 1556.

Local tradition identifies the cave as the dwelling of a local Saint Blaise, tortured in Durrës and died in Ragusa, distinct from Saint Blaise of Armenia. Robert Elsie recorded this identification. The same saint is linked to Veles, the pre-Christian Slavic patron of flocks, whose name resembled Blaise's; in Yaroslavl the first church on Veles's shrine site was dedicated to Saint Blaise.

The cave lies in Laç, in Kurbin Municipality, next to Saint Anthony Church, built in 1556 and dedicated to Anthony of Padua; the church is the landmark to aim for when approaching the site. The cave itself is small, so visits take little time and are usually combined with the church. As an active pilgrimage site, it calls for quiet and respectful behaviour.

Robert Elsie stressed that this Saint Blaise is not Blaise of Armenia but a local figure tortured in Durrës and killed in Ragusa. In Yaroslavl, the first church on the site of Veles's pagan shrine was dedicated to Saint Blaise because the names sounded alike and both were patrons of shepherds.