The Bay of Vlorë ( sq, Gjiri i Vlorës — ) is a large

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...

of the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to th ...

situated along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Alb ...

. It opens to the sea in the northwest and is largely surrounded by the lagoon of Narta in the north, the city of

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

in the northeast, the mountains of the Ceraunians in the east and southeast, and the peninsula of Karaburun in the southwest and west.

Biodiversity

The bay is categorized as an Important Bird and Plant Area by virtue of it provides excellent habitats for a vast array of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

and

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae excl ...

species.

Geography

The

Karaburun Peninsula Karaburun Peninsula may refer to: *Karaburun Peninsula, Albania, a peninsula in Albania *Karaburun Peninsula, Turkey Karaburun Peninsula is a peninsula in the extreme western end of Turkey, a component of the larger Urla-Karaburun-Çeşme Penin ...

, which stretches at the meetingpoint of the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

and

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea ( el, Ιόνιο Πέλαγος, ''Iónio Pélagos'' ; it, Mar Ionio ; al, Deti Jon ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including ...

, encompasses the western shoreline of the bay that is highly hilly and irregular in structure and is home to the

Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park The Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park ( sq, Parku Detar Karaburun-Sazan) is a marine park in the Vlorë County of southwestern Albania. The marine park encompasses over and comprises the boundaries of both the Peninsula of Karaburun and the Island ...

History

In classical antiquity the Bay of Vlorë constituted the southern limit of the Illyrian coast. The Bay is delimited by the mountainous area of the

(ancient ''Akrokeraunia'') to the southwest and the

Ceraunian Mountains The Ceraunian Mountains ( sq, Malet e Vetëtimës, "Thunderbolt mountains"; el, Κεραύνια Όρη, ''Keravnia ori''; la, Cerauni Montes), also commonly Akroceraunian Mountains ( grc, Ἀκροκεραύνια, sq, Malet Akrokeraune "male ...

to the south, which represented a natural frontier separating

Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...

from

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...

. The coastal area of the Bay was settled by

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

colonists A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

, who traditionally founded Oricum, Thronion and Aulon.

Illyrians The Illyrians ( grc, Ἰλλυριοί, ''Illyrioi''; la, Illyrii) were a group of Indo-European-speaking peoples who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan populations, a ...

were found in the hinterland of the Bay. The area at the foot of the Akrokeraunian Mountains including the Dukat plain in the south of the Bay was inhabited by the southernmost Illyrians, while

Chaones The Chaonians ( grc, Χάονες, Cháones) were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus currently part of north-western Greece and southern Albania.; ; ; ; ; . Together with the Molossians and the Thesprotians, they formed ...

and their territory, Chaonia, were located to the south of the Akrokeraunia. In Roman times, the region was a significant place and was the scene, for example, of some of Caesar's battles. It has been suggested that

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

landed inside the Bay of Vlorë from

Brundusium Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

across the Adriatic, in order to carry on the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

against

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

in Illyricum and the oncoming Battle of Dyrrhachium on 10 July 48 BC.

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

mentions ''Aulon'' (

), locating it in Taulantian territory. In one account, 18 ships full of merchandise have sunk in the Bay. Studying the Bay of Vlorë, it has been one of the main projects of the navigation department of the University of Vlora in the last few years. The southwestern end of the Bay, at the naval base of

Pashaliman Orikum or Pashaliman is a town and a former municipality in Vlorë County, southwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Vlorë. It was named after the ancient city Oricum, which was located ...

, has been used as a harbor since antiquity. The city was called Oricum. During the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...

, it was temporarily a Soviet naval base, the only one in the

Mediterranean sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * Bays of Albania Bays of the Mediterranean Bodies of water of Albania Important Bird Areas of Albania Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast {{Vlorë-geo-stub

Biodiversity

Geography

History

See also

References

Bibliography