The Archaeological Museum of Durrës () in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, established in 1951, is the largest

archaeological museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological artifacts. Many archaeology museum are in the open-air museum, open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum.David Watkin. ''The Roman Forum ...

in the country. The museum is located near the beach and north of the museum are the 6th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

walls, constructed after the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

invasion of 481. The

1997 rebellion in Albania In 1997, Albania experienced widespread civil unrest due to economic problems caused by the collapse of pyramid schemes. The large sums of money siphoned from the government to fund these schemes led to the collapse of the Democratic Party's ...

saw the museum seriously damaged and looted.

Collection

The bulk of the museum consists of 3204 artifacts found in the nearby ancient site of Dyrrhachium and includes an extensive collection from the

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

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

periods.Durrës Guide
, Direct Ferries Items of major note include Roman funeral steles and stone

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek σάρξ ' meaning "flesh", and φ� ...

and a collection of miniature busts of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, testament to the time when Durrës was a centre of worship of the goddess.

Reconstruction

In 2010, the Durrës Archaeological Museum is expected to undergo a total reconstruction. Despite the importance of archaeological objects, the museum is not an independent institution and is operated by the Regional Directorate of Durrës Monuments. The museum is supported by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and the Academy of Sciences and intend it to become a national museum according to archaeologists such as Adrian Anastasi and Luan Përzhita, given the historical significance of its artifacts and their illustration rich cultural heritage. A fund has been opened by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports to provide the museum with a new research unit, its own scientific staff and laboratory and administrative body. Problems have been identified in the reconstruction process given that the museum is located near the sea faces erosion from the iodine content of salt and moisture and weathering.

Reopening March 2015

The museum was reopened by prime minister

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama; 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, artist and writer who has been serving as the 33rd and incumbent prime minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He was M ...

on March 20, 2015, after four years of closure. The museum is open from 9 am to 3 pm every day of the week, except Monday.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durres Archaeological Museum Archaeological museums in Albania A Museums established in 1951 Buildings and structures in Durrës Tourist attractions in Durrës County