Roman Amphitheatre of Durrës

About Roman Amphitheatre of Durrës

By the ULTIMATE Tirana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Built under the emperor Trajan in the 2nd century AD, Durrës’s amphitheatre was the largest Roman amphitheatre in the Balkans, with room for around 20,000 spectators. Damaged by earthquakes in the 6th and 10th centuries, it was forgotten under houses until its rediscovery in 1966. Walk its tunnels and see the small Byzantine chapel with wall mosaics built into the structure. It is on the tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status, a few minutes’ walk from the seafront.

Trajan’s amphitheatre

Durrës, the ancient Epidamnos and Roman Dyrrachium, was one of the great ports of the Adriatic and the starting point of the Via Egnatia to Constantinople. Under the emperor Trajan, in the 2nd century AD, the city built an amphitheatre that could hold around 20,000 people, the largest ever built in the Balkan Peninsula.

Lost and found

Earthquakes damaged it in the 6th and 10th centuries, and over time houses were built on top of it. It was rediscovered only in late 1966, and part of it is still covered by the old town. Inside you can walk through the vaulted tunnels and passages where gladiators and animals once waited, and see a small early Christian chapel built into the structure, with wall mosaics.

Twenty thousand spectators once filled it; for centuries it lay forgotten under the houses of the old town.

The amphitheatre is on Albania’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage status.

Around it

The site is a few minutes’ walk from the seafront, the Venetian Tower and the city walls, built in the late 5th century, and the Archaeological Museum, the largest in Albania.

Our advice: visit in the morning, then walk the walls to the Venetian Tower and the museum, and finish with lunch by the sea; Durrës is only forty minutes from Tirana.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Roman Amphitheatre of Durrës before you go.