‘Hadrianapolis, a Roman town in ancient Epirus’ featured in photos

TIRANA, Nov. 3 – “Hadrianapolis, a Roman town in ancient Epirus” is the newest event which the Italian Institute of Culture is organizing in Tirana. Staged in the frame of the 11th Week of the Italian Language, the photo exhibition featuring a portrait of the southern Albanian archeological site will be inaugurated on Saturday, Nov. 5 at the premises of the Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana, where it will remain open until November 25. The exhibition features sixty coulored and black and white photos illustrating archeological excavations Italian experts have been carrying out in cooperation with Albanian colleagues for the past six years in the Hadrianapolis Park.
Italy’s University of Macerata and the Marche region have been contributing to archeological and reassessment activities in Hadrianapolis.
Last summer, Albanian and Italian archeologists discovered a public building believed to be a cult object in the ancient Roman city of Hadrianapolis located in the southern district of Gjirokastra after concluding a three-week archeological expedition. Professor Roberto Perna of Italy’s University of Macerata, a co-director of the expedition, says further details on the building’s real function will be unveiled in future excavations.
“We have concluded the excavation process in Hadrianapolis, which proved fruitful because we identified a big public building. This discovery provides evidence that the village which existed at the entry of Hadrianapolis was important. We will try to understand what this building was in coming years,” says the Italian archeologist as quoted by local media.
The expedition also included research work aimed at shedding light on the economic relations Hadrianapolis used to have with other ancient regional sites.
“We can certainly confirm that Hadrianapolis was an important centre where trade and exchanges were vital for this city,” archeologists said earlier.
Previous expeditions in the site managed to discover important remains such as the Roman baths, monumental tombs and an ancient church, all of which are expected to give Hadrianapolis the national park status and attract more visitors.
Located in the Drino valley of the Gjirokastra region by a village bearing the same name, Roman Hadrianopolis dates back to the second century A.D. The theatre was excavated in 1984 and has a capacity of 4,000 seats in 27 steps.
The settlement, Hellenistic in origin, was re-founded under Emperor Hadrian, who gave it its name. The excavated remains include public buildings such as a theatre and Roman baths, large parts of the urban settlement and an extensive necropolis.