Woolly says – With the sun out and quite a lot of walking to do I had decided that a taxi to our first exciting visit of the day would be in order. As we sped through the city streets I spent the time explaining to Jo and Zoe about King Zog…..what an awesome name for a king I hear you cry! HM King Zog was the founder of the modern Albanian State and first King of the Albanians, which he declared for himself! Born Ahmet Bey Zogu on the 8th of October 1895 in urgajet-Mat, he attended school in Istanbul but returned to Albania in 1911 to lead a revolt against the Young Turks…..maybe he hadn’t enjoyed his school! On the 28 November 1912, he took part in and defended the declaration of independence of Albania, by 1916 he was being held hostage in Austria where he became an emperor, I’m not sure but I don’t think most hostages are treated like that! He became Prime minister of Albania in 1925, and then King in 1928, when the fascists however invaded Zog was out of there and proceeded to live in Greece, Turkey and Paris before settling in Cane in France in 1955. King Zog died in Paris in 1961. Visiting his summer palace was to be a highlight of our trip to Durres, as the taxi came to a stop I bounced out and hurried the women up the driveway to find barbed wire blocking my entry. I could just about see the top of the structure perched high above me but even on tip paw it didn’t reveal much, I looked up at Jo who looked up at Zoe who stated ‘hmmmm sorry Woolly it’s abandoned’
It’s terrible to see his little face creased with disappoint, having promised him some further things to do, I offered him a snack to quell his suffering as we walked down the road to our next port of call.
Woolly says – feeling marginally better I spotted the Byzantine built walls of the city constructed in 346 AD following the earthquake that ravaged the city and trotted through an archway to find myself on top of destination number two. Durres Amphitheatre was constructed in the 2nd century AD and in it’s prime had help up to twenty thousand spectators who would have roared in delight at the gladiators battling below them. The seating now is fairly non existent but the warren of tunnels allowed me to race round and pop up at many different points with Jo not being able to work out how I was doing it hehehehe. A church was added inside in the 5th century AD and the mosaics that were dedicated to the martyr of the city, St Stephen looked very good indeed even now. Having tired of my exertions I suggested a walk along the front with the added addition of a drink, the girls happily followed in my wake.
Passing the most impressive building of the Durres College we arrived by the sea, looking along the sea wall we were most bemused to find bark chippings instead of sand for the bathers to lie on!
Woolly says – Nope I have no idea but it’s a new and strange concept, not sure if it would catch on in Aberystwyth! The rather spectacular pier however might well do, two buildings connected by what appeared to be a rope suspension bridge stood proudly in the sea, seemed like an ideal place to sit and watch thehuge dockyards at work whilst consuming some refreshment. Having consulted the map once more It seemed like a taxi would be the ideal choice to take us to the war museum and following what turned out to be a very short ride we were dropped outside a park area. The Mausoleum of Martyrs is dedicated to the fallen of the second world war and the victims of the concentration camps, not much of a museum but moving to see all the pictures of those that the country had lost during those times and the tremendous mosaic to honour them all. By this point we seemed to have covered the highlights of the city and as it was only eleven o’clock I couldn’t consider lunch just yet. As we set out to walk back towards the sea front I was suddenly confronted by the Byzantine Market Square which had once been the centre of the city, with it’s columns still showing how large the circular portico would have been and the remains of what had once been a platform it was a little gem.
With the sun warming us nicely we strolled back along the road we had recently covered before finding ourselves in a large square.
Woolly says – Zoe had spotted a poster and thinking that it might be an exhibition I led the way up the steps, a lovely man greeted us and explained in excellent English that it was advertising a comedy show but ushered us into the building anyway for us to admire the prominent statue of Albania’s most famous actor, Alexander Moissi (1879 – 1935) and the patron of the theatre we were now standing in. The nice gentlemen then allowed us to enter one of the boxes to see the stage inside, nothing grand but very kind of him all the same.
Before the mammoth got any ideas about making a show of himself we shuffled him out thanking the fellow profusely for our little peek inside.
Woolly says – the other side of the square revealed a large maroon building which is the current city hall, most impressive as was the Xhamia Mosque which sat to the side of the square. As we reached the end of the road I found myself stood in front of what appeared to be a tower, dashing over to the information board I realised that it was a piece from the Venetian ruling over the area. The Venetian Castle is an extension of the Byzantine Fortress of Durres and was built in the sixth century, it was considered as one of the most powerful fortresses along the western coast of the Adriatic. In the middle Ages, the design of the fortress was constantly dictated to by the advances in the art of fortifications, assault tactics and weaponry of the time, the castle was built to withhold against all of that. Built upon a circular plane 9 meters in diameter and 9.6 meters tall, It rises above a cone shaped basement, there is just one hall inside the tower and which is lit by five artillery pill boxes. The walls measure 3.70 meters thick and are reinforced by a wooden sash. Even better it was open so with no excuse not to check out the view from the top.
I chuckled to myself as I watched him attempt to climb the incredibly high steps before taking pity on him.
Woolly says – I hate it when that happens! Finally reaching the top the view was less than fantastic but the cocktail list more than made up for that and having spied one called a Garibaldi it seemed rude not to indulge and remember the pub that we had once run. Hmmmm sun and warmth, a Garibaldi cocktail or King Zog’s palace…..the cocktail had to win!