The story of Apollonia

Augustus, the first Roman emperor, studied here in his youth. In Roman times Apollonia was famous for its school of Greek philosophy, rhetoric and military training, which drew students from across the empire. The city was founded around 600 BC by a group of 200 Corinthians led by Gylax, and at first it was called Gylakeia after him.

By 588 BC the name Apollonia, honouring Apollo, appears; it was one of 24 cities of that name in the Greek world. The site lay at the crossroads of a trade route linking the Adriatic coast with the interior, which later became the Roman Via Egnatia, and it had a river harbour on the Aoös, or Vjosë, about 10 km from the sea. Decline began in the 3rd century AD, when an earthquake caused the harbour to silt up, and in the 4th century the city was abandoned.

Since 7 April 2003 the ruins have been an archaeological park.