We entered the city center of Durrës, where palm trees and hot air greeted us. We had a day of sightseeing ahead of us. Traffic in the city was heavy; finding a parking spot was a miracle.
The first attraction was the Roman amphitheater in Durrës, built in the 2nd century BC. It is the largest preserved amphitheater in the Balkans. It was used for gladiator fights, and its stands could hold 20,000 people. Interestingly, it was covered with earth during Ottoman times and only discovered in the 1960s. At that time, 33 private houses were demolished to allow access to this place.
Currently, the amphitheater is on the UNESCO list of monuments and serves as a museum.
When buying tickets, it turned out that we could also visit the archaeological museum located nearby. And since it was in the direction of where we parked, we decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
It was pleasantly cool there, probably because of the air-conditioned rooms 🙂