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The Italian-Albanian archaeological mission in Phoinike
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The Italian-Albanian archaeological mission in Phoinike

Categories: Uncategorized -Archaeology and Heritage

The Italian research, conservation and training experience in Albania continues.

Mission group photo with students and workers
Mission group photo with students and workers

In Albania operates, with the co-financing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the mission of the University of Bologna (Ravenna Campus, Department of Cultural Heritage), directed by prof. Giuseppe Lepore, who studies the site of ancient Phoinike.

For the column Let’s talk about Archaeology, Prof. Giuseppe Lepore  updates us on the ongoing research.

The first excavations at Phoinike

The first excavations on Phoinike hill in Caonia (a region in ancient Epirus, today southern Albania) were conducted by Luigi Maria Ugolini in 1926 and 1927, thanks to the contribution of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The site was chosen for its historical importance (the peace treaty that ended Rome’s first war against Macedonia was signed here in 205 B.C.) and for the extraordinary remains of its walls that still stood out in the landscape of the time. In 1928, however, the Italian archaeologist moved on to the nearby site of Butrint, which was also well preserved and linked to the origins of Rome (Virgil in fact recalls that Aeneas fleeing from Troy stopped precisely at Butrint on his way to Italy).

New research by the University of Bologna

World War II interrupted all archaeological investigations and, after the first research carried out by Albanian archaeologists (Dhemosten Budina, Kosta Lako and Dimither Çondi), activities at the Phoinike site resumed in 2000, thanks to a new agreement between the University of Bologna and the Albanian Archaeological Institute in Tirana. From then on, excavation campaigns followed one after the other without interruption every year, investigating both the upper part of the hill and the plain below, where a large necropolis was located. And, today as yesterday, the excavation is co-financed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation  and the University of Bologna.

The archaeological park

In 2005, after five years of joint work by Italian and Albanian archaeologists and students, the National Archaeological Park of Phoinike was finally created, with the function of protecting this important site and promoting its knowledge for tourism. A new series of paths now makes it possible to visit the upper city, with its powerful walled circuit and its agora (or main square), which houses some remains from the Hellenistic period (a public building with an adjoining portico, a large theatre and an important dwelling called the ‘House of the Two Peristyles‘). More substantial are the remains from the later periods, including a large basilica with a baptistery (built inside an older structure) and a palace for the city’s bishop. Phoinike‘s life, in fact, did not stop with the Greek and then Roman ages: the site was used throughout the Middle Ages, at least until the arrival of the Turks in the 15th Century, when a slow decline began that led to the final abandonment of the settlement. The modern settlement of Finiq, located on the southern slopes of the hill, still retains the memory of the ancient city in its name.

Restoration and training

Archaeological research, however, does not exhaust the functions of the Italo-Albanian Mission, which also promotes two other important activities: the first is undoubtedly the conservation and monitoring of the state of preservation of monuments. In the best Italian tradition, all the archaeological structures identified and material remains collected are subjected to initial conservation and protection interventions, functional to subsequent restoration. Between 2008 and 2009, the Mission also organised the first Archaeological Restoration School in Albania, which allowed for the training of numerous operators who are still working in this field today.

The second peculiarity of the Mission in Albania is also training: in fact, numerous Italian and Albanian students have been trained in the Phoinike excavation in recent years and now work in various capacities in the field of Cultural Heritage.

Bibliography

  • M. Ugolini, Albania antica II. L’acropoli di Fenice, Milano-Roma 1932
  • Phoinike I-VI. Rapporti preliminari sulle campagne di scavi e ricerche 2002-2014, Bologna 2002-2015 (a cura di S. De Maria e S. Gjongecaj)
  • Lepore, Scavi recenti nella città di Phoinike (Albania meridionale), in “Annuario Scuola Archeologico Italiana di Atene” 95 (2017) pp. 519-538

Gallery

The theatre of Phoinike

The theatre of Phoinike

The theatre of Phoinike
Phoinike hill seen from the south (at the base the modern village of Finiq)

Phoinike hill seen from the south (at the base the modern village of Finiq)

Phoinike hill seen from the south (at the base the modern village of Finiq)
Ugolini's base camp on the northern slope of Phoinike hill

Ugolini's base camp on the northern slope of Phoinike hill

Ugolini's base camp on the northern slope of Phoinike hill

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