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Apollonia

Apolonia, Apollonia (Illyria)

city · Fier County, Albania

What it is
Apollonia was a Greek colony founded around 600 BC near the mouth of the Vjosë that became a flourishing Roman city, famous for its school of philosophy and rhetoric where the young Augustus studied.
What you’ll see
A partly excavated city. Among the Roman buildings are the odeon, built in the 2nd century AD on the north side of the agora for music and cultural events, and a library of the 2nd century built over an earlier Doric portico (the Commons file descriptions).
Worth the trip?
Yes, if you are travelling through central Albania: it was, in English Wikipedia's words, perhaps the most important of the ancient towns named Apollonia, and its Roman public buildings and the monastery museum give the visit shape.
Getting there & cost
Apollonia is near the village of Pojan in Fier County (en.wikipedia); OpenStreetMap puts the centre of Fier about 8 km away. No public transport stop is mapped near the site, so plan on a car.TicketedHours, tickets and parking
A grassy archaeological site with scattered stone blocks, and at the back a re-erected building front of six columns carrying an entablature and pediment, with olive trees behind.
The archaeological park, with a re-erected columned façade. · Photo: Inkey · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A small semicircular auditorium of stone seats rising behind a low stage platform, flanked by brick walls, set against a wooded slope.
The odeon, built in the 2nd century AD on the north side of the agora for music and cultural events. · Photo: Carole Raddato · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
A single round arch of large squared stone blocks framing a dark opening into a hillside, with dry grass around it.
A Roman vault on the site. · Photo: Carole Raddato · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Apollonia was a Greek colony founded around 600 BC near the mouth of the Vjosë that became a flourishing Roman city, famous for its school of philosophy and rhetoric where the young Augustus studied. Its ruins lie near the village of Pojan, not far from Fier, and were declared an archaeological park in 2003.

What is there today

A partly excavated city. Among the Roman buildings are the odeon, built in the 2nd century AD on the north side of the agora for music and cultural events, and a library of the 2nd century built over an earlier Doric portico (the Commons file descriptions). A German-Albanian team has been studying the Hellenistic theatre (en.wikipedia). Finds are shown in a museum in the monastery beside the site; a new museum opened in December 2011 (en.wikipedia). Much of the city remains unexcavated, and the site was badly damaged in 1967 by heavy machinery and the building of about 400 military bunkers (en.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

Yes, if you are travelling through central Albania: it was, in English Wikipedia’s words, perhaps the most important of the ancient towns named Apollonia, and its Roman public buildings and the monastery museum give the visit shape. Go knowing that much of it lies unexcavated or in fragments.

Getting there

Apollonia is near the village of Pojan in Fier County (en.wikipedia); OpenStreetMap puts the centre of Fier about 8 km away. No public transport stop is mapped near the site, so plan on a car. Current opening hours and ticket prices could not be confirmed from an official source; check locally before you go.

Visiting details

Tickets
Ticketed

Before you go

  • No official source could be read for current opening hours or ticket prices. No public transport stop is mapped near the site (OpenStreetMap), so plan on a car.

History

Some 200 Corinthians under their leader Gylax founded the colony around 600 BC; it was later renamed after Apollo. It came under Roman control in 229 BC, was loyal to Rome, and in 148 BC became part of the province of Macedonia. Octavian, the future Augustus, was studying here in 44 BC when he heard of Caesar’s murder, and Cicero called Apollonia a great and important city. An earthquake in the 3rd century AD changed the course of the Aoös, silted up the harbour and turned the land into a malarial swamp; the city was abandoned in the 4th century, apart from a Christian community whose monastery still stands (en.wikipedia). The ruins were declared an archaeological park in 2003 (en.wikipedia).

More photographs

Low walls of brick and stone forming a square building on a lawn, with column drums lying and standing in front and oak trees behind.
The library, of the 2nd century AD, built over an earlier Doric portico. · Photo: Carole Raddato · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The courtyard of a stone monastery building with an arcaded upper gallery, a flight of steps and carved stones set around the lawn.
The museum in the monastery beside the site. · Photo: InaMyrtollari · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

  • Two stone columns with carved capitals standing on a paved floor between stone walls, with hills in the distance behind.

    Photo: Riet Prins · CC BY 3.0 · Commons

    29 km · city · Fier County

    Byllis

    The walls of about 350 BC run for 2.25 km and enclosed some 30 hectares round the hill; inscriptions record their rebuilding by the engineer Victorinus on the orders of Justinian.

Straight-line distances.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from the records below, each used under the licence noted.

SourceLicence
Pleiades 481728CC BY
Wikidata Q505703CC0
Vici.org 2109CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap way/434991811ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — Apollonia (Illyria)CC BY-SA 4.0
Commons — Odeon of Apollonia (file description)licence not recorded
Commons — Ancient Roman library of Apollonia (file description)licence not recorded