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Hidden gem1st c. BC – 6th c. ADUnknown

Byllis

Bylis, Colonia Bullidensis

city · Fier County, Albania

What it is
Byllis was the hilltop capital of the Illyrian Bylliones, walled around 350 BC, which became a Roman colony in 30 BC and a Christian bishopric in late antiquity.
What you’ll see
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.
Worth the trip?
Yes, if you are in central Albania: the hilltop setting above the Vjosë is striking, and the standing columns of the basilicas help you picture the Christian town.
Getting there & cost
Byllis is at Hekal in Fier County, north-east of Vlorë, 25 km from the sea (en.wikipedia). A car park is mapped about 270 m from the point, and no public transport stop is nearby (OpenStreetMap).UnknownHours, tickets and parking
An aerial view of a long hilltop with the line of an ancient city wall and scattered ruins, above a broad braided river valley and ranges of hills.
The hilltop of Byllis above the valley of the Vjosë. · Photo: Arbenllapashtica · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Two stone columns with carved capitals standing on a paved floor between stone walls, with hills in the distance behind.
Columns of the ancient cathedral. · Photo: Riet Prins · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Low stone walls and fallen blocks of a church with a few column shafts standing, one with its capital, on a hilltop with hazy mountains beyond.
Basilica C, a three-aisled church of 525–550, once paved with mosaics. · Photo: Carole Raddato · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Byllis was the hilltop capital of the Illyrian Bylliones, walled around 350 BC, which became a Roman colony in 30 BC and a Christian bishopric in late antiquity. Its ruins — walls, a theatre, a stadium, the agora and several early Christian basilicas — lie on a hilltop above the Vjosë valley, 25 km from the sea.

What is there today

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. Inside, the Hellenistic city of the 3rd century BC had a stadium, a theatre, an agora, two stoas, a cistern and a temple, with six gates in its walls. The early Christian town left a number of basilicas with mosaic floors and carvings, one with a baptistery (en.wikipedia). One of them, Basilica C, built in 525–550, had three aisles, a narthex and a portico (the Commons file description).

Is it worth the trip?

Yes, if you are in central Albania: the hilltop setting above the Vjosë is striking, and the standing columns of the basilicas help you picture the Christian town. It is mostly foundations beyond that, and there is no public transport, so plan on a car.

Getting there

Byllis is at Hekal in Fier County, north-east of Vlorë, 25 km from the sea (en.wikipedia). A car park is mapped about 270 m from the point, and no public transport stop is nearby (OpenStreetMap). Current hours and prices could not be confirmed from an official source; check locally.

Visiting details

Tickets
Unknown
Parking
A car park is mapped about 270 m from the point (OpenStreetMap).

Before you go

  • No official source could be read for current opening hours or prices, and no public transport stop is mapped nearby (OpenStreetMap); plan on a car.

History

Byllis was founded around 350 BC as the chief town of the Bylliones, on an older Illyrian hilltop settlement; it took on the forms of a Hellenistic town and spoke Greek. In the war of 169/168 BC the Bylliones fought on Rome’s side against the Illyrian king Gentius, but the city later allied with the Molossians and Macedonians and was sacked by the Romans. After a long decline it rose again as a Roman colony in 30 BC, recorded by Pliny as Colonia Bullidensis. In late antiquity it stayed an important town of Epirus Nova, though smaller, and Justinian had its walls rebuilt (en.wikipedia). The ruins were declared an archaeological park in 2003 (en.wikipedia).

More photographs

The curved apse wall of a church and rows of column bases and a few standing columns in a green meadow, under a clear sky.
One of the basilicas on the hilltop. · Photo: Katrien Gabriel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

Straight-line distances.

Sources

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

SourceLicence
Pleiades 481777CC BY
Wikidata Q1018544CC0
OpenStreetMap way/307869990ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — ByllisCC BY-SA 4.0