Antigonea

Antigonea was founded around 295 BC, most probably by Pyrrhus of Epirus, who would then have named it for his wife Antigone, laid out on a long ridge above the Drino valley with walls of about four kilometres, a grid of streets, an agora, houses with mosaic floors and a stoa. It lasted about a century and a half: Roman forces destroyed it in 167 BC in the campaign that devastated Epirus, and it was never reoccupied, which means the plan is uncomplicated by later building. Excavation has exposed streets, house foundations, mosaics under shelters and stretches of wall, in an archaeological park on open ground with pine planted through it. The ridge position gives a long view down the Drino valley toward Gjirokastra.

History

The city was founded in the 3rd century BC, perhaps by Antigonus II Gonatas but more probably by Pyrrhus of Epirus, who would then have named it after his wife Antigone, stepdaughter of Ptolemy I of Egypt, and it became the chief inland city of the Chaonians. It sided with Macedon against Rome, and after the Roman victory of 167 BC the consul Aemilius Paullus had 70 towns in Epirus set on fire, Antigonia among them; it was never rebuilt, though a church with a mosaic of Saint Christopher, wrecked in Slavic raids of the 6th century AD, shows that people still lived here in early Christian times. The Albanian archaeologist Dhimosten Budina identified and excavated the site, finds such as a bronze sphinx and a statue of Poseidon are shown in Tirana, and an Albanian-Greek team has worked here more recently (Wikipedia, Antigonia - Chaonia).

What you'll find

• A Hellenistic street grid - streets and house plots on the ridge.
• Mosaic floors under shelters - pavements from the houses.
• Four kilometres of wall - the circuit around the ridge.
• The Drino valley view - the plain toward Gjirokastra below.

When to go

April to October. Two hours. Mornings are cooler for walking the ridge, which has little shade. The site is quiet at almost any time. The final road is rough.

What to expect

The site is at foundation level and needs interpretation, which is limited. There is very little shade on the ridge. The access road is rough and there is no public transport. Mosaics are covered outside the main season.

Nearby

Gjirokastra is south-west; the Drino valley runs below.

Key facts