From the mythological Chimera to the sun-drenched coast -- the story behind the name.
In Greek mythology, the Chimera (Χίμαιρα, “Khimaira”) was a fearsome fire-breathing creature -- part lion, part goat, part serpent. The name comes from the Greek khimaira (χίμαιρα), meaning “she-goat” or “young goat” -- the feminine of khimaros (χίμαρος). Both words trace back to kheima (“winter”), since young livestock were reckoned by the number of winters they had survived.
But the Chimera was not just a monster. In the ancient world, the word was also used to describe wild, rugged landscapes -- places where goats roamed steep cliffs above the sea. And that is exactly what the coastline around Himara looks like.
The ancient settlement was called Χίμαιρα (Chimaira) -- the same word as the mythological creature. An ancient inscription found at the site reads “ΦΟΙΒΟΣ ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ ΧΙΜΑΙΡΑΝ ΕΠΟΛΙΣΕΝ” -- “Phoebus Apollo founded the city of Chimaira.” The name described the precipitous terrain where flocks grazed on near-vertical slopes above the Ionian Sea -- a land of she-goats.
During the Byzantine period, scribes began writing the name as Χειμάρρα (Cheimarra), reinterpreting it as a connection to cheimarros (χείμαρρος, “winter torrent”) -- the seasonal streams that rush down the mountains after heavy rains. This was a folk etymology, not the original meaning, though the confusion is understandable: both words share a deep Proto-Indo-European root in *gheim- (“winter”).
Either way, both readings paint the same picture: a dramatic, untamed landscape of sheer cliffs, wild gorges, and rugged mountain pastures tumbling into turquoise waters. Anyone who has driven the SH8 coastal road or hiked down to Gjipe Canyon knows this description still holds true today.
Over the centuries, the name evolved through the languages of the peoples who inhabited the coast:
Χίμαιρα (Chimaira) -- “she-goat,” the same word as the mythological creature
Χειμάρρα (Cheimarra) -- folk-etymological respelling linking the name to “winter torrent”
Chimara -- adapted by Roman and Venetian writers
Himara / Himarra -- the “Ch” softens to “H”
Himarë -- the official name today
The shift from “Ch” to “H” follows a well-attested pattern in Greek loanwords entering Albanian: the ancient Greek chi (/kh/) evolved over centuries into a velar fricative (/x/), which Albanian then adapted to its native /h/. The core of the word, though, has remained remarkably stable for over two millennia.
The chimera icon you see on this site is a nod to the mythological roots of the name. It connects the modern beach town to its ancient identity -- a place shaped by wild mountains, seasonal torrents, and the restless sea. The creature represents the untamed beauty that drew people here thousands of years ago and continues to draw travelers today.
Himara is not the only place that owes its name to the Chimera. The mythological creature left its mark across the ancient Greek world. Chimaera in Lycia (modern Turkey) is perhaps the most famous -- a site where natural gas vents produce eternal flames on the mountainside, thought by the ancients to be the fire-breathing monster itself.
But on the Albanian Riviera, the name took on a meaning more grounded in the landscape than in legend. Here, Chimera was not about fire -- it was about the raw, vertical terrain where goats still outnumber tourists in the hills above town, and where the mountains meet the sea with no apology.
Discover the beaches, mountains, and villages that give Himara its wild character.
