Guide of Durres

The city of Durrës is on the Albanian Adriatic coast and contains 3000 years of history to be discovered just by walking through its streets. It is a city that is more than just beaches and sea, the Roman buildings and the archaeological remains also capture your imagination.

History

Durres was Greek colony until 431 B.C. the year in which the Illyrians managed to take it back. Later, the city was under the Romans who expanded and economically developed the city. The city is at a strategic point along the Adriatic and has been ruled by many different populations, the Byzantines, Normans, Venetians, Turks. The city became independent in 1920 after its temporary annexation with Albania in 1914. From 1939 to 1943 the city found itself under Italian fascism and then under German occupation between 1943 and 1944.

Places to see 

The Roman amphitheatre of Emperor Hadrian is the main building remaining from the Roman period, it has 15,000 seats. In the centre, you can also find the Castle of Durres which was built by the Byzantine emperor Anastasio and renovated under the Venetians. Among the religious buildings not to be missed there are the two mosques, the Great Mosque which was rebuilt in the 1930s and the ancient Fatih mosque of the 1500s. There are theatres and an interesting museum in the former home of Alessandro Moissi, an Albanian actor who lived between there at the end of the 1800s to the beginning of the 1900s.

Beaches 

Bardhori is a small rocky beach with a splendid view. Gjenerali is a beach surrounded by greenery that  provide refreshment and shade during the hottest hours of summer. Golem beach is nearby as well as Mali i Robit beach, surrounded by a beautiful pine forest.