The road from Orikum to Vlorë, and thence to Durres and Tirana, is narrow and winding and hugs
the shoreline. It’s difficult to believe
that this is one of the main routes that links Durres to Sarandë in the south, and because of the number of beach concessions
between Orikum and Vlorë, the road is
incredibly busy southbound in the morning, and northbound later in the
afternoon.
We were fortunate in all our comings and
goings, to be travelling in the opposite direction to the traffic. This probably saved us a good deal of time as
well as frustration. We set off
reasonably early and arrived in Apollonia by mid morning – it was another very
hot day with temperatures in the high 30s Celcius, and we were glad to be
visiting the ancient site before the weather got too hot.
Apollonia was a thriving port town about a
kilometre from the Aoos River first settled in 588BC and by the middle of the 2nd
century BC (Roman conquest) it was one of the starting points of the Via
Egnatia linking the Adriatic Coast with Byzantium. According to the guide book (“Albania” by Gillian
Gloyer) Apollonia “in addition to its importance as a trading and military
port, the Roman elite considered Apollonia a centre of higher learning” and
“the young Octavian studied there before he was given the title of
Augustus”. Interestingly, Augustus
awarded Apollonia the status of a ‘free and immune city’ which meant that they
didn’t have to pay taxes and were at liberty to speak Greek and use their own
coins. The city began its decline after
an earthquake shifted the course of the Aoos River far to the south, thus
depriving the city of the port which had been the source of its affluence.
The church at Apollonia
The remains of the municipal building in Apollonia
The small 'private' theatre for the elite
The view from 'Hill 104' over Apollonia and the surrounding valley
The site was excavated by Leon Rey, a
French archaeologist and his team between 1924 and 1938, and later, during the
1970s by an Albanian team of archaeologists.
The site is reasonably large but very well presented with boards showing
drawings of what the various ruins represented and what they might have looked
like at the peak of prosperity of Apollonia.
We spent a couple of hours wandering the ruins and then stopped for a
cool drink in the shade of olive trees at the top of Hill 104 (it is 104m high)
which would have been the temenos in ancient times. The site also has an extensive and very well
presented museum which can be visited for a small donation. The museum is located in part of the
monastery, with its 13th century church and 14th century
refectory; we saw some lovely frescoes and the area is generally very well
preserved.
It was early afternoon by the time we left
Apollonia for the drive to Durres.
Fortunately part of the road north included an actually freeway so we
reached our hotel in Durres by mid afternoon, just 90 minutes later.
Hotel Ani was one of the three hotels I
researched during my planning of the road trip and it came recommended as
clean, comfortable and friendly. The
young man who checked us in showed us two rooms, one of which overlooked the
main street, and the other, at the back of the hotel – we chose the back-facing
room for a little less noise (even though we would have no view!). The location of the hotel was such that we
were a short walk from the main promenade area of town, across the street from
the archaeological museum, and a 10 minute walk to the rest of the ancient
sites in the city. Perfect!
Tad and our new 'friend' the owner of the restaurant
One of the many statues around Durres
As we knew the museum would be closed the
next day (many museums around the world are closed on Mondays) we went across
to check the opening times for later that day and were pleased to see that we
could visit between 5pm and 8pm that evening.
So it was off to the beach for a swim and a cool-down, as well as a bite
to eat.
The archaeological museum, once again, was
beautiful built and laid out – unfortunately there are not a great deal of
explanatory descriptions of the artefacts in English (or, it seems, in
Albanian, either) but at least the provenance of the items was listed as well
as dates so we could see what came from Apollonia, for example or what was
excavated around Durres.
We went for a stroll around the promenade
after our museum visit – the local people and visitors were all out in force
–buying roasted corn on the cob, fairy floss, donuts, popcorn and sunflower
seeds. Midway rides were blaring and
there was even a gypsy with a small bear on a lead (awful!) who would take
photos for a small fee. It was a lovely
warm evening and we enjoyed mixing with the people before finding a nice spot
to have some pizza for dinner.
The next morning we walked to the
amphitheatre and made our way around the ancient site in the centre of
town. Durres was an important harbour as
far back as the 7th century BC and became another of the two
starting points of the Via Egnatia under Roman rule. The amphitheatre which the Romans built was
the largest in the Balkan peninsula, and is still rather well preserved. Unfortunately the theatre is smack in the
centre of town and has been built upon by some very unattractive homes – there
are also some houses that are practically in ruins that should be purchased by
the government and removed to extend the excavated area, in my humble opinion,
but knowing how little money the government has access to, particularly for
antiquities, this is unlikely to happen.
In Byzantine times, once the amphitheatre was no longer in regular use,
one enterprising resident created a small chapel out of one of the galleries
and there are still some lovely mosaics on the walls.
The amphitheatre at Durres
The main square at Durres
One of the many mosaics around the city
Hotel Ani
The beach concession to the north of Durres
One of the leftover bunkers on the shoreline
View of Durres from the Tower Bar
We continued our wandering through downtown
Durres to the main square which is modern and bright, to the old city walls,
and the forum and baths thought to date to the 5th century AD. There are also a number of Ottoman buildings
scattered around this part of the city which we managed to locate on our
wanderings. We did not drive out to King
Zog’s former palace as it is closed to visitors.
That afternoon, we drove a short distance
north (about 30 minutes) to a more isolated and clean beach for the
afternoon. It was another steaming hot
day and we were grateful for an umbrella and sunbeds on which to relax in
between dips in the ocean. In the
evening, we mounted the narrow steps of the Tower Bar in town and enjoyed
margaritas with a lovely view over the city.
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