First published: 15/11/22.

Clyde 0

L'Amphitheatre De Durres

L'amphitheatre de Durres (On tentative list)

L'amphitheatre de Durres by Clyde

I visited this tWHS twice in spring 2022, just upon arrival and just before departure at Tirana International Airport which is about 30-45 minutes away by car. The amphitheatre is literally in the middle of Durres' urban sprawl, Albania's second most populated seaside city, so I don't think it has much chance of ever getting inscribed. That said, it is the largest amphitheatre in the Balkan Peninsula and has a capacity for 20,000 people.

Durres was founded by Ancient Greek colonists from Corinth and Corcyra under the name of Epidamnos around the 7th century BC in cooperation with the local Illyrian Taulantii. Also known as Dyrrachium, Durres essentially developed as it became an integral part of the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. The Via Egnatia, the continuation of the Via Appia which will soon be up for inscription as a WHS, started in the city and led across the interior of the Balkan Peninsula to Constantinople in the east.

Practically only around half has been excavated and a lot of archaeological work has been conducted in close cooperation with Italian institutes and universities. The only reason to enter the site proper is to be able to walk inside the excavated part and see a pretty small mosaic behind a metal gate and if you pay enough attention also a number of ancient graffiti and items inside the walls such as a shell. Most of the artefacts found in the Durres amphitheatre can be seen at the Durres Archaeological Museum as well as at National Museum of History in Tirana, notably the colourful elliptical mosaic known as the Beauty of Durres, and a collection of miniature busts of Venus, testament to the time when Durres was a centre of worship of the goddess.

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