We entered Albania after crossing North Macedonia, and it turned out to be a fascinating place.
Our guide, Gert, spent hours explaining Albanian history to us, and we were captivated by his storytelling. Gert was getting behind schedule. He wanted to skirt around Durres. Glad he didn’t. We spent a fascinating day at the Roman ruins and wandering around this most interesting Albanian city.
Durres Castle; the Old City Wall and the Venetian Tower
After the Venetians snatched Durrës in 1392 from Gjergj Thopia, they decided to give the castle a makeover by adding a bunch of guard towers and strengthening the walls.
The walls were apparently so thick that according to the Byzantine princess and historian Anna Komnene, ‘four horsemen could ride abreast on top of them’ – talk about overcompensating!
The castle stayed under Venetian rule until 1501, when Durrës was taken over by the Ottoman Empire, which held onto the city until 1912.
The walls are being well looked after, and restoration projects are underway.
The Venetian Tower dates back to the 400s, during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, who was born in this city. Since its construction, Durrës Castle has seen some serious action, having been reinforced by the Venetians just before the city’s conquest by the Ottomans.
In 1939, the castle was the base for a ragtag collection of Albanian patriots trying to delay the advance of the Italian army. Some 360 locals held their ground successfully until armoured Italian units disembarked at the port and took the city.
The Great Mujo
Mujo Ulqinaku, born in 1896 in Ulcinj, Montenegro, came from a family of sailors and fishermen. He joined the commercial fleet in his teens and later served in the Albanian navy. Despite being one of the few officers to resist the Italian invasion of Albania, he bravely stood in the defence line, armed only with a machine gun. His courageous efforts resulted in the killing and wounding of dozens of Italian soldiers. Tragically, he was killed by an artillery shell from an Italian warship in the last hour of the battle.
Gert remembered his bravery and sacrifice in a solemn moment as we stared at the statue.
John Lennon
The Roman Amphitheatre
In 1966, Vangjel Toçi from Durrës, Albania, had the shock of his life when he noticed that his fig tree had mysteriously sunk a few feet into the ground. Instead of panicking, he decided to investigate. To his surprise, he unearthed an ancient Roman Amphitheatre right in his backyard! It turns out that historians had been searching for this lost treasure for ages but left it to a sinking fig tree to uncover it. Who would’ve thought that a fig tree could lead to the discovery of an 18,000-seater ancient wonder?
So, he naturally started investigating. Beneath his plot of land was an ancient Roman Amphitheatre. Historians knew that the city had one but didn’t know where. And it seemed improbable that they would ever discover it – over the centuries, the area has had numerous earthquakes, and, more recently, Durrës has been sprawled with the inevitable concrete of modern urbanisation. But having found it, they’d discovered an ancient wonder – a theatre that could seat around 18,000 spectators!
The amphitheatre was built at the beginning of the 2nd century AD and was used for performances until the 4th century AD. They were used for events such as gladiator combats, venationes (animal slayings) and executions. This is the biggest one in the Balkans.
An early Christian chapel was constructed on the amphitheatre in the second half of the 4th century. The chapel was initially decorated with frescoes; in the 6th century, mosaics were added. A medieval chapel was built in the 13th century and was also decorated with frescoes. The amphitheatre was covered over in the 16th century after the Ottoman occupation.
About one-third of the site was discovered and excavated in the 1960s by Vangjel Toci; the rest was excavated in the 1980s by Lida Miraj. After excavation, the amphitheatre slowly deteriorated, as no conservation efforts were undertaken prior to the 2000s, and construction continued to take place around the site. In 2004, the University of Parma started restoration work to save the monument.
