Near Fier, Albania on a hill high above the Muzeqe plain is the ruined city of Apollonia. It was founded by the Corinthians around 600 B.C. It was for many years one of the most important ports along the Albanian coast. But some 800 or 900 years later the river Vjosa shifted its course to the south and Apollonia lost its harbor.
Looking down from the top of Apollonia you see some small Albanian villages. Note also the old bunkers on the far side of the valley. As I've mentioned before there are bunkers all over this country.
At Apollonia there is also a Bysantine monastery from the 13th Century. The rock (front right as well as those that can been seen in the distance below the monastery were part of the walls which surrounded the city.
The facade of a bouleuterion, built in the 2nd century AD as the administrative center of the city of Apollonia. This important Roman city was awarded the special status of "free and immune city" by Caesar Augustus, meaning, it was not liable to the Roman emperor for taxes. Augustus was studying here when he had to rush back to Rome to claim power after the Ides of March, 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated.
Apollonia elected its own local authorities. Its everyday language was Greek, not Latin and it had its own coinage. Until the 1st Century B.C. the city's silver coins were used to pay Roman legionaries stationed in the Balkans.
Near Fier, Albania on a hill high above the Muzeqe plain is the ruined city of Apollonia. It was founded by the Corinthians around 600 B.C. It was for many years one of the most important ports along the Albanian coast. But some 800 or 900 years later the river Vjosa shifted its course to the south and Apollonia lost its harbor.
Looking down from the top of Apollonia you see some small Albanian villages. Note also the old bunkers on the far side of the valley. As I've mentioned before there are bunkers all over this country.
At Apollonia there is also a Bysantine monastery from the 13th Century. The rock (front right as well as those that can been seen in the distance below the monastery were part of the walls which surrounded the city.
The facade of a bouleuterion, built in the 2nd century AD as the administrative center of the city of Apollonia. This important Roman city was awarded the special status of "free and immune city" by Caesar Augustus, meaning, it was not liable to the Roman emperor for taxes. Augustus was studying here when he had to rush back to Rome to claim power after the Ides of March, 44 B.C. when Julius Caesar was assassinated. 
Apollonia elected its own local authorities. Its everyday language was Greek, not Latin and it had its own coinage. Until the 1st Century B.C. the city's silver coins were used to pay Roman legionaries stationed in the Balkans.
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