Aug 04 2009
Albania highlights: Apollonia
Apollonia is one of the main tourist attractions in Albania and rightly so. Now Unesco world heritage sight, Apollonia was founded on the banks of the river Vjosa by the Greeks in 588 b.C.
Cicero called Apollonia magna urbs et gravis, a great and important city. As an important sea port, Apollonia grew rich under Roman rule. In the 3rd century aD an earthquake shattered the hopes and dreams of the Apollonians: it changed the flow of the river Vjosa, and split the harbor in two, turning the inland area into a mosquito paradise, spreading malaria.
Apollonia declined as the nearby harbor town of Vlöre, or Vlora, prospered and was mostly forgotten until excavations started in the 20th century. Today, a lot still lies undiscovered, though through the years, many fine artefacts have been dug up, on display at the monastery and at the archeological museum in Durrës.
The nearby coastal town of Fier offers plenty of wonderful hotels to make your stay a memorable one.
Mail this post
Related Posts
No related postsNo responses yet