Durres archeological museum in final restoration stage

TIRANA, Jan. 13 – More than two years after the launch of reconstruction works, the archeological museum of Durres, one of the key attractions in the coastal city, remains closed, while the project is in its final stage. Local culture official say the museum will continue remaining closed for several other months until the lighting and conditioning systems are installed.
The archeological museum of Durres, a testimony to the ancient city’s 3000-year-old history along with the ancient Roman amphitheatre, has been under restoration since September 2011.
The reconstruction will make possible the improvement of the building’s architecture and its exhibition spaces. A library and conference hall will also be made available in the new museum premises. The reconstruction will also include objects which are on display in the museum’s front garden, apart from inner works in the three-storey cubist architecture museum building.
Some 2,100 objects belonging to the period before the foundation of the city until the fourth century are part of its collection, specialists say.
Lonely Planet tourist guide, which placed Albania as the top destination to visit in 2011, describes the Archaeological Museum situated on the waterfront as well laid out with an impressive collection of artefacts from the Greek, Hellenistic and Roman periods. Highlights include engraved Roman funeral stelae (memorial stones) and some big carved stone sarcophagi. “Back in the day when the city was called Epidamnos, Durr쳠was a centre for the worship of Venus, and the museum has a cabinet bursting with little busts of the love goddess.”
Inaugurated in 1953 during the communist regime, the current museum opened in 2001. Along with the ancient Durres Amphitheatre, the archeological museum is on top of the agenda of visitors who come to see the ancient site which boasts a rich cultural heritage.