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Durrës (Albanian: Durrës, Durrësi; Latin Dyrrachium, Italian: Durazzo; Greek: Δυρράχιο; see also different names) is the most ancient and one of the most economically important cities of Albania.

Geography and demographics

Durrës is located on the central Albanian coast at 41°19′N 19°27′E / 41.317°N 19.450°E / 41.317; 19.450, about 33 km (20 miles) west of the capital Tirana. It is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari (300 km away) and Brindisi (200 km away). It has a population of around 114,000 (2003 estimate).

History

Greek foundation

The city was founded as Epidamnos in 627 BC by Greek colonists from Corinth and Corfu (Kérkyra). Its geographical position was highly advantageous, being situated around a natural rocky harbour which was surrounded by inland swamps and high cliffs on the seaward side, making the city very difficult to attack from either land or sea. Epidamnos was noted for being a politically advanced society, prompting the ancient philosopher Aristotle to praise its political system. However, Corinth and Corcyra quarrelled over the city, helping to precipitate the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC.

Roman and Byzantine rule

Epidamnos was seized by Glaukias, the king of Illyria, in 312 BC, but after a war with the Roman Republic in 229 BC ended in a decisive defeat for the Illyrians the city passed to Roman Rule, following which it was developed as a major Roman military and naval base. The Romans renamed it Dyrrachium (Greek: Δυρράχιον / Dyrrhachion; see also List of traditional Greek place names). They considered the name Epidamnos to be inauspicious because of its wholly coincidental similarities with the Latin word damnum, meaning "loss" or "harm". The meaning of Dyrrachium is unclear but it has been suggested that it refers to the imposing cliffs near the city. Julius Caesar's rival Pompey made a stand there in 48 BC before fleeing south to Greece. Under Roman rule, Dyrrachium prospered; it became the western end of the Via Egnatia, the great Roman road that led to Thessalonica and on to Constantinople. Another lesser road led south to the city of Buthrotum, now called Butrint. The Roman emperor Caesar Augustus made the city a colony for veterans of his legions following the Battle of Actium, proclaiming it a civitas libera (free town).

In the 4th century AD, Dyrrachium was made the capital of the Roman province of Epirus nova. It was the birthplace of the emperor Anastasius I in circa 430. Some time later that century, Dyrrachium was struck by a powerful earthquake which destroyed the city's defences. Anastasius I rebuilt and strengthened the city walls, thus creating the strongest fortifications in the western Balkans. The 12m (36ft)-high walls were so thick that, according to the Byzantine historian Anna Komnene, four horsemen could ride abreast on them. Significant portions of the ancient city defences still remain, although they have been much reduced over the centuries.

Like much of the rest of the Balkans, Dyrrachium and the surrounding Dyrraciensis provinciae suffered considerably from barbarian incursions during the Migrations Period. It was besieged in 481 by Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths, and in subsequent centuries had to fend off frequent attacks by the Bulgarians. Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the city passed to the Byzantine Empire and continued to be an important port and a major link between the empire and western Europe.

Middle Ages

The First Bulgarian Empire under Simeon the Great captured the city, together with most of what is today Albania, in the early 10th century, but the Byzantines reconquered it around the middle of the century, when Bulgaria was under Peter I. The very end of the century saw another period of Bulgarian control, when under Samuil the empire conquered the city and held it until 1018. Dyrrachium (then known as Драч, Drach in Bulgarian) remained as one of the last Bulgarian fortresses as the Byzantine Empire subjugated Bulgaria.

Dyrrachium was lost in February 1082 by the emperor Alexios I Komnenos, who was defeated at the hands of the Normans (Robert Guiscard and his son Bohemund (see Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)). Byzantine control was restored the following century following the defeat of Bohemund in 1107 but the city was lost again in 1185, this time to the Norman King William II of Sicily. In 1202, during the Fourth Crusade, the city was transferred to the rule of the Republic of Venice. It passed into the hands of Manfred of Sicily and then Charles I of Sicily (Charles of Anjou) in 1268.

Five years later, in 1273, it was wrecked by a devastating earthquake, but soon recovered and became an independent duchy under the rule of Charles' grandson John of Anjou. It later came under the rule of Philip I of Taranto. In 1333 it was annexed to the Frankish Principality of Achaea before falling to the expansionist Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan in 1336. When Dušan died in 1355, the city passed into the hands of the Albanian family of Thopias. Venice regained control in 1392 and retained the city, now known as Durrazzo. It fended off a siege by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II in 1466 but fell to them in 1501.

Durrës became a Christian city quite early on; its bishopric was created around 58 AD and was raised to the status of an archbishopric in 449. It is also the seat of a Greek Orthodox metropolitan bishop. Under Turkish rule, many of its inhabitants were converted to Islam and many mosques were erected. This city was renamed as Dıraç, the city did not prosper under the Ottomans and its importance declined greatly. By the mid-19th century, its population was said to have been only about 1,000 people living in some 200 households. Its decrepitude was noted by foreign observers in the early 20th century: "The walls are dilapidated; plane-trees grow on the gigantic ruins of its old Byzantine citadel; and its harbour, once equally commodious and safe, is gradually becoming silted up." [1]

20th century

Durrës was an active city in the Albanian national liberation movement in the periods 1878-1881 and 1910-1912. Ismail Qemali raised the Albanian flag on November 26, 1912 but the city was captured by the Serbs three days later during the First Balkan War. The city was assigned to Albania in 1913 – somewhat controversially, as some Greeks argued for the annexation to Greece of what they called "Northern Epirus", including Durrës – and became the country's first national capital on March 7, 1913 under the brief rule of Prince William of Wied.

During the First World War, the city was occupied by Italy in 1915 and by Austria-Hungary in 1916-1918. It was captured by the Allies in October 1918. Restored to Albanian sovereignty, Durrës became the country's temporary capital between 1918 and March 1920. It experienced an economic boom due to Italian investments and developed into a major seaport under the rule of King Zog, with a modern harbour being constructed in 1927.

An earthquake in 1926 damaged some of the city and the rebuilding that followed gave the city its more modern appearance. The Second World War saw Durrës and the rest of Albania being annexed to Fascist Italy between 1939-1943, then occupied by Nazi Germany until 1944. Durrës's strategic value as a seaport made it a high-profile military target for both sides. It was the site of the initial Italian landings on 7 April 1939 as well as the launch point for the ill-fated Italian invasion of Greece. The city was heavily damaged by Allied bombing during the war and the port installations were blown up by the retreating Germans in 1944.

The Communist regime of Enver Hoxha rapidly rebuilt the city following the war, establishing a variety of heavy industries in the area and expanding the port. It became the terminus of Albania's first railway, begun in 1947.

Following the collapse of communist rule in 1990, Durrës became the focus of mass emigrations from Albania with ships being hijacked in the harbour and sailed at gunpoint to Italy. In one month alone, August 1991, over 20,000 people migrated to Italy in this fashion. Italy intervened militarily, putting the port area under its control, and the city became the centre of the European Community's "Operation Pelican", a food-aid programme.

In 1997, Albania slid into anarchy following the collapse of a massive pyramid scheme which devastated the national economy. An Italian-led peacekeeping force was controversially deployed to Durrës and other Albanian cities to restore order, although there were widespread suggestions that the real purpose of "Operation Alba" was to prevent economic refugees continuing to use Albania's ports as a route to migrate to Italy.

During the 1999 Kosovo War the city hosted some 110,000 refugees fleeing fighting in Kosovo and became a base of operations for much of the refugee response by aid agencies in Albania.

Economy

Durrës is still an important link to Western Europe due to its port and its proximity to the Italian port cities, notably Bari, to which daily ferries run. As well as the dockyard, it also possess an important shipyard and manufacturing industries, notably producing leather, plastic and tobacco products. The neighbouring district also produces wine and a variety of foodstuffs.

Local sights

Some important buildings in Durrës include the main library, the cultural center with the Aleksander Moisiu theater, the Estrada Theater, the puppet theater, the philharmonic orchestra, etc. There are also several museums such as the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of History.

The city's beaches are also a popular destination for many foreign and local tourists, with an estimated 600,000 tourists visiting annually. Many Albanians from Tirana spend their summer vacations on the beaches of Durrës.

Due to the recent construction of a modern highway linking Tirana and Durrës, the travel time is only approximately 30 minutes. You can also make the journey by train, for the token charge of 50leke (about 0.50USD). There are roughly ten trains a day from Tirana.

As in other parts of Albania, numerous concrete bunkers built under the old dictatorship are situated in and around Durrës. They can be found every 100 to 150 meters along the city's beach. They were built to defend the country from a supposed foreign attack from either the West or the Warsaw Pact which never happened; Albania now has an estimated 700,000 bunkers.

Note :

The Via Egnatia was one of the most important roads in the Roman Empire, running from ancient Dyrrachium, modern Durrës, on the Adriatic coast, across Albania to Lake Ochrid(Ohrit), and then from Macedonia to Constantinople. This ancient trade and military route followed the Shkumbini river valley through central Albania, and although only a modest amount of the Roman surface remains, some paving can be seen from time to time. The modern road links Durrës with the important industrial centre of Elbasan, then runs though some of the most beautiful and dramatic mountain scenery in the centre of the country.

External links

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 As in other parts of Albania, numerous concrete bunkers built under the old dictatorship are situated in and around Durrës. They can be found every 100 to 150 meters along the city's beach. They were built to defend the country from a supposed foreign attack from either the West or the Warsaw Pact which never happened; Albania now has an estimated 700,000 bunkers.
+'''Note :'''
+*The Via Egnatia was one of the most important roads in the Roman Empire, running from ancient Dyrrachium, modern Durrës, on the Adriatic coast, across Albania to Lake Ochrid(Ohrit), and then from Macedonia to Constantinople. This ancient trade and military route followed the Shkumbini river valley through central Albania, and although only a modest amount of the Roman surface remains, some paving can be seen from time to time. The modern road links Durrës with the important industrial centre of Elbasan, then runs though some of the most beautiful and dramatic mountain scenery in the centre of the country.
 ==See also==