Durres Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre at Durres was built in the early second century AD and is the largest in the Balkans, an ellipse with an estimated capacity of around twenty thousand, and it was entirely lost: the city grew over it and it was only found in 1966 when a resident digging in a garden broke into a vault. Excavation has cleared part of the arena and the seating, but houses still stand on top of a substantial portion, so what visitors see is a section of the structure emerging from under the modern city, which is itself the interesting thing. In one of the vaulted chambers is a small Byzantine chapel of the sixth century with wall mosaics, the only such mosaics found in an amphitheatre anywhere.

What you actually see

• The largest amphitheatre in the Balkans - capacity estimated at twenty thousand.
• A Byzantine chapel inside a vault - with sixth-century wall mosaics.
• Modern houses on top - the city still standing over part of the structure.
• The 1966 discovery story - found by a resident digging a garden.

When to go

April to October. One hour. The chapel mosaics are the highlight and access to them can be restricted. Mornings are quieter. The site is central and easy to reach on foot.

Honest expectations

Only part is excavated and houses remain on top, so the scale is hard to grasp. The mosaics are behind a barrier and sometimes not accessible. Interpretation is limited. The surrounding streets are busy and unattractive.

Nearby

The Venetian tower is on the seafront; the archaeological museum is nearby.