The architecture of Albania ( ) is a reflection of Albania's historical and cultural heritage. The country's architecture was influenced by its location within the Mediterranean Basin and progressed over the course of history as it was once inhabited by numerous civilisations including the Illyrians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottomans as well as modern Austro-Hungarians and Italians. In addition, missionaries, invaders, colonisers and traders brought cultural changes that had a large profound effect on building styles as well as techniques.
Background
During classical antiquity, cities and towns in Albania have evolved from within the castle to include dwellings, religious and commercial structures, with constant redesigning of town squares and evolution of building techniques. Although there are prehistoric and classical structures in the country, which effectively begins with constructions from the Illyrians and Ancient Greeks such as in Byllis, Amantia, Phoenice, Apollonia, Butrint and Shkodër. With the extension of the Roman Empire in the Balkans, impressive Roman architecture was built throughout the country whereas it is best exemplified in Durrës, Tirana and Butrint.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Albania became an integral part of the Byzantine Empire. They have left a legacy, most visible in the cities and surroundings of Korçë, Berat, Voskopojë and Gjirokastër, in the form of castles, churches and monasteries with grandiose wealth of visible murals and frescos. The country also has many surviving monuments from the Ottoman period. They left their mark with the many mosques and other buildings they constructed, that contributed to make Berat and Gjirokastër an UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Albanian medieval towns underwent urban transformations by various Austro-Hungarian and Italian architects, giving them the appearance of western European cities; this can be particularly seen in Tirana and Korçë. They introduced architectural styles such as Historicism, Art Nouveau, Neo-Renaissance and Neoclassicism.
Following the establishment of communism in Albania, the country's architectural development was radically changed by socialist ideology, and numerous historic and sacred buildings across Albania were demolished. Many socialist-styled complexes, wide roads and factories were constructed, while squares in major towns were redesigned.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) list of World Heritage Sites include currently two sites in Albania. These sites include the historic centres of Berat and Gjirokastër and Butrint. The Amphitheatre of Durrës, Royal Illyrian Tombs of Selcë e Poshtme, Archaeological site of Apollonia and Castle of Bashtova are inscribed on the country's tentative list.
The preservation and protection of cultural and historical heritage sites in Albania is entrusted to the Institute of Monuments of Albania, which were founded on 2 July 1965 by the Ministry of Culture.
History
Prehistory
The beginnings of architecture in Albania dates back to the middle Neolithic Age with the discovery of prehistoric dwellings in Dunavec and Maliq. They were built on a wooden platform that rested on stakes stuck vertically into the soil. Prehistoric dwellings in Albania consist of three types such as houses enclosed either completely on the ground or half underground, both found in Cakran near Fier and houses constructed above ground.
Antiquity
Illyrians
During the Bronze Age, the Illyrians and Ancient Greeks started to organize itself in the territory of Albania. The Illyrians were an ethnic group with distinct culture and art, while it is believed that Albanians are the descendants of the Illyrians but no enough evidence is left to get a conclusion. Cities within Illyria were mainly built on the tops of high mountains surrounded by heavily fortified walls. Further, the history of Albania has not been kind to the Illyrian architectural monuments. Few monuments from the Illyrians are still preserved such as in Amantia, Antigonia, Byllis, Scodra, Lissus and Selca e Poshtme.Gilkes, O., Albania An Archaeological Guide, I.B.Tauris 2012, , p263
Following the Illyrian Wars, the architecture in Albania developed significantly in the 2nd century BC with the arrival of the Romans. The conquered settlements and villages such as Apollonia, Butrint, Byllis, Dyrrachium and Hadrianopolis were notably modernised following Roman models, with the building of a forum, roads, theatres, promenades, temples, aqueducts and other social buildings. The period also marks the construction of stadiums and thermal baths that were of social importance as places of gathering.
Amantia Amantia was an ancient city and the main settlement of the Amantes, traditionally located in southern Illyria in classical antiquity. In Hellenistic times the city was either part of Illyria or Epirus. In Roman times it was included within Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia. The site has been identified with the village of Ploçë, Vlorë County, Albania. Amantia was designated as an archaeological park on 7 April 2003 by the government of Albania.
The massive walls of Amantia were built before the end of the 4th century BC, and literary sources report them as an Illyrian rather than Epirote or Macedonian foundation. Later Amantia acquired the trappings of a Hellenistic town. The time duration that passed before Illyrian cities were documented on a list of theorodokoi clarifies that acculturation did take place in southern Illyria; however, it indicates that the process was gradual.
Amantia occupied an important defensive position above the Aoos/Vjosë river valley to the east, and on the road to the coast and the Bay of Aulon. At the archaeological site of Ploçë, a temple dedicated to Aphrodite, a theatre, and a stadium have also been found.
Byllis Byllis was an ancient city and the chief settlement of the Illyrian tribe of the Bylliones, traditionally located in southern Illyria. In Hellenistic times the city was either part of Illyria or Epirus. In Roman times it was included within Epirus Nova, in the province of Macedonia. The remains of Byllis are situated north-east of Vlorë, 25 kilometers from the sea in Hekal, Fier County, Albania. Byllis was designated as an archaeological park on 7 April 2003 by the government of Albania.
The massive walls of Byllis were built around 350 BC when the Illyrians went through a dynamic development founding their own cities. The urban settlement was built on the territory of the community of the Bylliones on an already existent Illyrian hilltop proto-urban area dating back to the previous century. Later Byllis acquired the trappings of a Hellenistic town, and because the southernmost Illyrian tribes, including the Bylliones, were inclined to become bilingual, it was also a Greek-speaking city. Byllis received sacred ancient Greek envoys, known as theoroi, during the early 2nd century BC, which only cities that were considered Greek were eligible to receive. The time duration that passed before Illyrian cities were documented on a list of theorodokoi clarifies that acculturation did take place in southern Illyria, however it indicates that the process was gradual.
Ancient Greeks and Romans
Butrint The acropolis was erected on a hill on the bank of a lake Butrint (or lake Bouthrotum). The first extension of the 7th century BC acropolis occurred during the 5th century BC. During the first years of the second Peloponnesian War (413–404 BC) the Corkyreans built fortifications stretching from Ksamil to Buthrotum. Buthrotum being previously an independent city, became subject to nearby Corfu.
By the 4th century BC it had grown in importance and included a theatre, a sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius and an agora. The acropolis of Bouthrotum was protected by three circuit walls. The last and outer wall was erected around 380 BC enclosing and area of 4ha. This 870m-long wall included bastions and five gates. Two of the most important gates were known as Scean and Lion gate. Moreover, the agora, the stoas, the residential zone and the theatre were located in a separate walled area.
Several inscriptions in Buthrotum describe the organization of the Chaonians in the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC. which show that they too had an annual leader called Prostates (Greek: Προστάτης Protector). The Greek calendar of Bouthroton appears in the oldest known analog computer, the so-called Antikythera Mechanism (c. 150 to 100 BC).
The theatre is known for the impressive number of inscriptions carved on its stones. Most of them deal with manumissions and give a great amount of details on the city during the Hellenistic era. The names of those slaves were almost exclusively Greek with a few exception of Latin ones which bore Greek family names.
In 228 BC Buthrotum became a Roman protectorate alongside Corfu. In the middle of the second century BC Buthrotum was the centre of an independent state, possibly the "Koinon of the Prasaiboi", as listed in the list of the theorodokoi at the Oracle of Delphi.
Previously populated by the Ancient Greeks, Butrint became a protectorate and subsequently a colony. Nowadays, it demonstrates a high level of Roman urbanisation, while it is among the best preserved remains of Roman heritage in Albania. They left its legacy in form of city walls, an aqueduct, the forum, basilicas, baptisteries, baths, an amphitheatre and houses for the middle classes, as well as mansions with central courtyards which were decorated with various mosaics and murals.
In 31 BC, Roman Emperor Augustus fresh from his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium renewed the plan to make Buthrotum a veterans' colony. New residents expanded the city and the construction included an aqueduct, a Roman bath, houses, a forum complex and a nymphaeum. During that era the size of the town was doubled. A number of new structures were built next to the existing ones especially around the theatre and the temple of Asklepeios.
In the early 6th century, Buthrotum became the seat of a bishopric and new construction included the Buthrotum baptistery, one of the largest such paleochristian buildings of its type, and a basilica. The diocese of Buthrotum was initially a suffragan of the Metropolis of Nicopolis, the metropolitan capital of Epirus Vetus and in the papal sway, but in the 9th and 10th centuries it is listed with the suffragans of Naupaktos, which succeeded ruined Nicopolis as provincial capital and metropolis of the new Byzantine theme of Nicopolis, bringing it in the sway of the Byzantine Patriarchate of Constantinople. After the 14th century, it was under the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Ioannina.
Dyrrhachium Dyrrachium thrived during the Roman period and became a protectorate after the Illyrian Wars. The Amphitheatre of Durrës, which the Romans built, was at that time the largest amphitheatre in the Balkan Peninsula. It is the only Roman monument that survived up to the present.
The Via Egnatia, built by Roman Senator Gnaeus Egnatius, functioned for two millennia as a multi-purpose highway, which once connected the cities of Durrës on the Adriatic Sea in the west to Constantinople on the Marmara Sea in the east. Further, the route gave the Roman colonies of the Balkans a direct connection to Rome.