Amphitheatre of Durrës Audio Guide

The Amphitheatre of Durrës is an ancient Roman monument in the centre of the city of Durrës, in Albania. Its Latin name is Amphitheatrum Dyrrhachinum. Construction began early in the second century, under the Emperor Trajan. It is the largest Roman amphitheatre ever built on the Balkan Peninsula. Its long axis measures about a hundred and thirty metres. The monument is built on a sloping hillside, and its stone tiers step down toward the grassy arena at the centre. The arched openings at the lower level catch the eye. Houses now line the upper rim, and the city surrounds the site on every side. Today the site works as a museum, and it has been the stage for the International Film Summerfest of Durrës.

Marcin Konsek · CC BY-SA 3.0

The seating rose in tiers, and together the rows could hold somewhere between sixteen and twenty thousand people. The stone steps for the spectators were once faced with white stone slabs. The rough stone rows of today show none of that white facing. Brick edges line the steps of the lower rows, and metal railings run along the stairs above. In Roman amphitheatres in general, seats were usually divided into tiers and sections. Who could sit where was often ranked. The building has been compared with monuments of the same period at Pompeii and Capua, in Italy.

Photo: Paul7670 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Gladiatorial combats were staged on this oval floor, before crowds seated in the tiers. The arena at the centre is about sixty metres long. It is roughly forty metres across. Today its floor is grass, ringed by the stone tiers that curve around it. Shows continued here into the fourth century. Then, in 345 or 346, an earthquake probably damaged the monument. The same earthquake likely brought the gladiatorial games to an end.

Photo: AKisn'tOK · CC BY-SA 4.0

Beneath the seats and the arena lies a hidden working structure of galleries and staircases, on several different levels. This passage is roofed with a barrel vault, a curved roof shaped like a barrel cut in half lengthways. Its arches are faced with brick. Rough stone forms the vault above them. In many amphitheatres, passages beneath the seats were used to bring performers and animals toward the arena before a show. Daylight shows only at the far end, where the passage opens out.

Photo: Fluisa Ismailati · CC BY-SA 4.0

The arch here is built of brick, laid in courses that follow its curve. The walls around it are thick and rough, built of stone. A second arch stands deeper in, and the passage runs on beyond it. On the floor in the foreground sits a low, round stone object, and its purpose is still uncertain.

Photo: Fluisa Ismailati · CC BY-SA 4.0

Once the shows here stopped, the amphitheatre found a new purpose. Early Christians built a small chapel inside it, a mortuary chapel linked with burial and the dead. The chapel had an apse, the half-round recess that closes one end of a room. Accounts differ on its date. One places the chapel in the second half of the fourth century, another in the sixth. Its first decoration was in fresco, paint laid onto wet plaster. This room, with plastered walls and an arched window, may belong to that chapel. Through the window today, the view is of modern houses.

Photo: Fluisa Ismailati · CC BY-SA 4.0

In the sixth century, mosaics were added to a chapel that had first been painted. Mosaics are pictures built from tiny cut pieces called tesserae. Along the left wall, figures with halos stand side by side, and their outlines are still clear. The right wall has lost much of its surface, and what is left looks worn and mottled. The mosaics and paintings are slowly decaying. After the excavations, the site deteriorated slowly, since no conservation was done before the 2000s. In 2004, the University of Parma began restoration work to save the monument.

Helmut Kienzle · CC BY 4.0

After the Ottoman occupation, in the sixteenth century, the amphitheatre was covered over. A wall was built nearby at that time. Why it was buried is open to interpretation. Marin Barleti had described the monument as well constructed. It lay hidden until late in 1966, when Vangjel Toci discovered it. Intensive digging from 1967 to 1970 forced fifty-five families to leave their homes. Thirty-three private houses were pulled down to open the way to the ancient building. Parts of the arena still lie beneath modern housing.

Photo: Fluisa Ismailati · CC BY-SA 4.0