Archaeological Sites in Albania
Ad Quintum
A Roman mutatio (way station) and thermal complex on the Via Egnatia near Bradashesh in present-day Albania. Built in the mid-2nd century AD, the site served as a rest stop where the two western…
Albanopolis
Albanopolis was an ancient Illyrian settlement identified with the archaeological site of Zgerdhesh, southwest of Kruje in central Albania. Founded in the 4th century BC, it reached its peak in the…
Amantia
Amantia was an ancient city and main settlement of the Amantes, located in southern Illyria during classical antiquity. The massive fortification walls were constructed before the end of the 4th…
Amphitheatre of Durrës
The Amphitheatre of Durrës is a Roman amphitheatre in the centre of Durrës, Albania. Construction began under Emperor Trajan in the 2nd century AD [1]. It was destroyed twice by earthquakes in the…
Apollonia Archaeological Park
Founded around 600 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth and Corcyra in southern Illyria, Apollonia grew into a major city on the Vjose River near the Adriatic coast. Its harbour could hold a hundred…
Archaeological Park of Antigonea
Antigonea was an ancient Greek city in Chaonia, Epirus, founded in the 3rd century BC by Pyrrhus of Epirus and named after his wife Antigone, daughter of Berenice I. The city was the chief inland…
Butrint
Butrint is an ancient Greek and Roman city in Vlore County, Albania, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Settled from as early as the 10th-8th centuries BC by the Chaonian tribe, it grew…
Butrint Ancient Theatre
The ancient theatre at Butrint dates to the mid-3rd century BC, as established by a dedicatory inscription and 29 manumission texts on the western parodos. Built into the hillside between the Shrine…
Byllis Archaeological Park
Byllis was the chief settlement of the Illyrian Bylliones tribe, founded between 370 and 350 BC in what is now Hekal, Fier County, Albania. Its massive fortification walls were built before the end…
Dimale
Dimale (Dimal) was an Illyrian fortified town in southern Illyria, located on a 450-metre limestone hilltop in modern Krotine, Berat County, Albania. Covering approximately 9 hectares, the city was…
Durrës
Durres, one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities, was founded as Epidamnos in 627 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth and Corcyra in cooperation with the local Illyrian Taulantii tribe.…
Finiq Archaeological Park
Phoenice (modern Finiq) was the capital of the Chaonians, an ancient Greek tribe in Epirus, and once the wealthiest city in the region. Founded in the 5th century BC, its fortifications were expanded…
Fortress Lezhë
4th-century BC Illyrian fortification later expanded under Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman rule. The castle sits at 322 m elevation, dominating Lezhe in northern Albania with its highest point at 186 m…
Hadrianopolis (Epirus)
Ancient Roman city in the Drino Valley near Sofratike, Albania, founded by Emperor Hadrian during his visit in AD 125 on the site of an earlier Hellenistic settlement of the Chaonian tribe. The city…
Justinianopolis (Epirus)
Justinianopolis was an ancient city of Epirus and Illyricum, established as the successor settlement to Hadrianopolis [1]. The town was repaired and relocated by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the…
Kamenica Tumulus
The Kamenica Tumulus is a major Bronze and Iron Age burial monument in southeastern Albania, 8 km south of Korce. The elliptical mound measures 70 x 50 meters and contained over 400 graves, 440…
Kratul Fortification
Kratul is an Illyrian settlement and fortification in the territory of the Labeates tribe, located on a rocky hill near Shkodra in northern Albania, about 6 km northeast of the city. Built in the 1st…
Lëkurësi Castle
A ruined Ottoman fortress on a hilltop above Saranda in southern Albania, probably built in 1537 by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent during his campaign against Venetian-held Corfu. The castle has a…
Lezhë District
The ancient Illyrian city of Lissus, one of the major strongholds of the Labeatai tribe, situated on a 413-metre hill near the mouth of the Drin River in northwestern Albania. The earliest…
Nymphaeum (Illyria)
Nymphaeum was an ancient harbour on the coast of Illyria, situated approximately 3 miles (5 km) north of Lissus. The site has been identified with the area of modern-day Shëngjin in Albania [1].
Olympe
Ancient fortified city of Olympe was located in the territory of the Amantes tribe, strategically positioned between northern Epirus and southern Illyria during classical antiquity. The settlement at…
Oricum Archaeological Park
Oricum Archaeological Park preserves an ancient Illyrian harbor that evolved into a Greek polis at the south end of the Bay of Vlorë, located at the foot of the Akrokeraunian Mountains marking the…
Peqin Castle
The Peqin Castle is a fortification in Peqin, Albania, situated on the ancient Via Egnatia trade route [1]. Its foundations likely date to the Roman period (1st–5th century AD), with original walls…
Pogradec Castle
5th c. BC – 10th c. AD: Pogradec Castle is a ruined fortress perched 205 metres above Lake Ohrid in eastern Albania[1][2]. It was continuously inhabited for over 1,500 years, from the 5th century BC…
Rock inscriptions of the Bay of Grama
The rock inscriptions of the Bay of Grama is an archaeological site in southwestern Albania, Vlorë County, featuring roughly 1,500 rock inscriptions carved into the limestone cliffs of Grama Bay…
Royal Tombs of Selca e Poshtme
The Illyrian Tombs of Selca e Poshtme are an ancient necropolis near Pogradec, Albania, on the right bank of the Shkumbin River at 1,040 m elevation [1]. The site contains ruins of the ancient city…
Rozafa Castle
Rozafa Castle stands on a rocky hill at the confluence of the Buna and Drin rivers near Shkoder, Albania, with origins tracing back to the Early Bronze Age, roughly 4,000 years ago. The earliest…
The Lion Gate
The Lion Gate is a monumental entrance to the Butrint acropolis in Albania, originally constructed in the 6th century BC with large carved limestone blocks [1]. It derives its name from the famous…
Xhamia e Plumbit
The Lead Mosque (Albanian: Xhamia e Plumbit), also known as the Mosque of Mehmet Bushati, is a historical mosque in Shkodër, northwestern Albania. Built in 1773 by Albanian pasha Mehmed Bushati of…