Apollonia

Another long hot day with visits to 2 spectacular sites. But first this morning we stopped at a Communist era bunker, one of 300,000 Hoxha built across Albania fearing a Russian invasion after the invasion of Prague. This was on the way to Apollonia a sister city to Durres, inhabited by Illyrians then colonised by Greek immigrants then taken over by the Romans. The foundations of the walls and some buildings are the big blocks of the Illyrians but most of the remaining buildings are Roman brick built. There was an earthquake in the 3rd C AD that changed the course of the river that gave access to the sea and the town was abandoned. In the 13C a church was built on the site and this has lovely frescoes and Roman mosaics have recently been found in the refectory.Read more