BOULEVARD EPIDAMN
The most beautiful street in Durrës, between the Venetian tower and the amphitheater. Palm trees, boutiques, cafés, neoclassical buildings..
With its palm-fringed sidewalks, this 300 m-long boulevard (Bulevardi Epidamn) is the most beautiful street in Durrës. Formerly known as "Rue du Commerce" (Rruga Tregtare), it was designed after the earthquake that struck the town in 1926. Since then, it has borne the first name given to the city by its Greek founders in 627 BC: Ἐπίδαμνος/Epidamnos (literally "before the damned", no doubt in reference to the "barbarian" tribes who lived in the surrounding area). The boulevard leads from the port and the Venetian tower (to the south) to Piazza Liria and the Durrës amphitheater (to the north). The boulevard is lined with hotels, boutiques, café terraces and charming old buildings that evoke a prosperous period, when Durrës was briefly (1918-1920) the second capital of independent Albania, after Vlora and before Tirana. The lower part, to the south of the boulevard, also preserves two Corinthian columns from the Byzantine era on the right-hand sidewalk coming from the port. Next to the Venetian tower once stood the royal palace of German Prince William of Wied, who ruled Albania for seven months in 1914. The building was damaged by the French navy during a confrontation with the Austro-Hungarians on October 2, 1918, before being destroyed by the earthquake of 1926. Finally, still in the southern part, the boulevard today extends towards the port thanks to the Veleria pedestrian bridge. Built in 2016, it has been covered by a large velum since 2022, providing shade for passers-by.
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