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 early Christian chapel of the fourth century with wall mosaics added in the sixth, the only such mosaics found in an amphitheatre anywhere.

History

Building began under Trajan early in the 2nd century AD, and the amphitheatre, the largest the Romans built in the Balkans, with room for some 20,000, held shows until the 4th century; the earthquake of 345 or 346 probably damaged it and ended the gladiatorial games. A Christian chapel went up inside it in the second half of the 4th century, painted with frescoes and given mosaics in the 6th, and a second chapel followed in the 13th, while earthquakes struck the building in the 6th and 10th centuries. After the Ottoman conquest it was covered over in the 16th century; found in 1966, it was excavated by Vangjel Toci in the 1960s and Lida Miraj in the 1980s, slowly deteriorated without conservation, and the University of Parma began restoring it in 2004 (Wikipedia, Amphitheatre of Durrës).

The main sights

• 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.

What to expect

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.

Key facts