Amphitheater and archaeological museum in Durrës

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 early 2nd century AD, during the reign of Emperor Trajan. 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 UNESCO's Tentative List (a list of candidates for World Heritage status) and serves as a museum.

Fun fact: the amphitheater was found by chance in 1966. Later it turned out that an early Christian chapel had once been built inside it, and parts of its mosaics and frescoes have survived.

When we bought the 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 🙂