"New Fier and ancient Apollonia" a Fier Travel Page by JLBG

Fier is a town of 120,000 inhabitants, in southwestern Albania, It is a modern town. It was founded as a market town in the 18th century by the Vrioni family, beys of Berat. Its building began from almost nothing in 1877 on the plans drawn by the French architect Barthélémy.

Fier is not worth a visit, except for those interested in urbanism but 8 km west to Fier, the ancient Greek city of Appolonia is waiting for you.

Apollonia, was founded around 550 BC by Greek settlers from Corfu and Corinth. The port, situated on the river Aous was an important stage along the route between Rome and Byzantium. In the IIIrd century BC, it came under the control of the Romans. Emperor Augustus studied there, and it later became famous for its school of philosophy.

The city wall is 4 km long and encloses a 86 hectares city. I will present the main monuments of Apollonia in the following tips.

Teams of French archeologists together with Albanian archeologists have dug the site since the 30s. Léon Rey began the digging between the two WWs. It stopped when Enver Hoxha took power. Pierre Cabannes resumed it as soon as it was possible, in 1991 and created a new digging Mission, still working on the site. Since 1999, it is under the direction of Jean-Luc Lamboley, professor at the University of Grenoble. More on the diggings can be found at Appolonia diggings site (in French)