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Hidden gem2nd c. BC – 6th c. ADUnknown

Phoenice

Phoinike, Finiq

city · Vlorë County, Albania

What it is
Phoenice was the capital of the Chaonians of Epirus, a Greek city on a steep hill above a fertile valley near the modern town of Finiq, and it stayed a town under Rome, which spared it in 167 BC and later rebuilt its theatre.
What you’ll see
The large theatre had a stage front 30 m wide. It was built in the 3rd century BC, renovated in the 2nd century BC and rebuilt under the Romans in the 2nd century AD; it was found in the excavations of 1980–81 (en.wikipedia).
Worth the trip?
If you are near Sarandë or Butrint, yes, as a quieter second site: the site sits high on a hill above a fertile valley, and the theatre and houses show a Greek city that lived on under Rome. and no official source publishes hours or prices, so treat it as an excursion for drivers.
Getting there & cost
Phoenice is on a hill near the town of Finiq in southern Albania (en.wikipedia), about 5 km from Delvinë according to OpenStreetMap, which maps a car park about 280 m from the theatre and no public transport nearby.UnknownHours, tickets and parking
A long bare hill rising above a plain of fields and trees, with higher mountains behind in a hazy light.
The hill of Phoenice seen from the south. · Photo: Giuseppe Lepore · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
The curved hollow of an ancient theatre cut into a grassy hillside, with its lower stone rows and stage foundations exposed in an excavation, and a few people working.
The theatre, built in the 3rd century BC and rebuilt under the Romans in the 2nd century AD. · Photo: Giuseppe Lepore · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Standing stone pillars and column drums among low walls of large blocks on a hilltop, with a wide valley and mountains beyond.
Remains on the hilltop. · Photo: Carole Raddato · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Phoenice was the capital of the Chaonians of Epirus, a Greek city on a steep hill above a fertile valley near the modern town of Finiq, and it stayed a town under Rome, which spared it in 167 BC and later rebuilt its theatre. Today it is part of an archaeological park, with a theatre, houses and walls on the hilltop.

What is there today

The theatre

The large theatre had a stage front 30 m wide. It was built in the 3rd century BC, renovated in the 2nd century BC and rebuilt under the Romans in the 2nd century AD; it was found in the excavations of 1980–81 (en.wikipedia).

Elsewhere on the hill are Hellenistic and Roman houses, among them the House of the Two Peristyles excavated in 1989–91, a temple of the mid-3rd century BC, sections of the city walls and the great Roman cistern of the 2nd century AD; a southern cemetery with Hellenistic tombs lies below (en.wikipedia).

Is it worth the trip?

If you are near Sarandë or Butrint, yes, as a quieter second site: the site sits high on a hill above a fertile valley, and the theatre and houses show a Greek city that lived on under Rome. and no official source publishes hours or prices, so treat it as an excursion for drivers.

Getting there

Phoenice is on a hill near the town of Finiq in southern Albania (en.wikipedia), about 5 km from Delvinë according to OpenStreetMap, which maps a car park about 280 m from the theatre and no public transport nearby. Current hours and prices could not be confirmed from an official source.

Visiting details

Tickets
Unknown
Parking
A car park ("Finiq Parking") is mapped about 280 m from the theatre (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).

History

Phoenice was the political centre of the Chaonians, one of the three major Greek peoples of Epirus; its walls, of massive blocks, were expanded as part of the defences of Pyrrhus. After the Epirote monarchy ended around 233 BC it became the seat of the Epirote League, and in 205 BC the treaty that ended the First Macedonian War between Rome and Macedon was signed here. When Rome conquered Epirus in 167 BC, the pro-Roman Chaonian cities including Phoenice were spared; the Romans later renovated the city. In the 5th and 6th centuries it was a bishopric with a baptistery and a basilica; Justinian built fortifications on a neighbouring hill, and after the 6th century the city disappeared (en.wikipedia).

More photographs

The excavated foundations of a courtyard house on a hillside, a square court edged with stone, with walls of rooms around it.
The larger peristyle of the House of the Two Peristyles. · Photo: Giuseppe Lepore · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

  • A theatre's curved stone seating dropping to a flooded orchestra, with a wooden walkway laid over the water in front of the ruined stage building and its row of arches, among trees.

    Photo: Marc Morell · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons

    19 km · city · Vlorë County

    Butrint

    The city spreads across the peninsula below the acropolis hill; the site museum is housed in the Venetian castle on the acropolis (en.wikipedia, Archaeological Museum).

Straight-line distances.

Sources

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

SourceLicence
Pleiades 531061CC BY
Wikidata Q781463CC0
Vici.org 11767CC BY-SA (text), CC0 (metadata)
OpenStreetMap way/289835247ODbL
Wikipedia (en) — PhoeniceCC BY-SA 4.0