BYLLIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
The ancient Illyrian town of Byllis, superbly positioned at the top of a hill, preserves important Hellenistic remains.
Perched on a hill 524 m above sea level, this site (Parku Arkeologjik Bylis) is home to the important remains of Βύλλις/Byllis, a city founded in the 4th century BC by the semi-hellenized Illyrian tribe of the Bylliones. According to Greek mythology, it was founded by Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, on his return from the Trojan War. It was conquered around 314 BC by Cassander of Macedonia, successor to Alexander the Great. It was then ruled by Illyrian kings, with an interlude of domination by the Greek king Pyrrhus. Byllis, with up to 25,000 inhabitants, allied itself with the Romans against the Illyrian queen Teuta and became an imperial colony in Augustus' time. At the end of the 4th century, the town was ravaged by the Visigoths, but rebuilt fifty years later. It became the seat of a bishopric. In the 6th century, Slavic invasions led to its abandonment. The remains of the Hellenistic (3rd-2nd centuries BC) and Palaeochristian (4th-6th centuries) periods can be seen on site. The Hellenistic part includes a 78 m-diameter theater that could seat 7,500 spectators, a portico overlooking the Vjosa, a 4-hectare agora lined with stoas (galleries), a stadium and a gymnasium. At the end of the Roman period and the beginning of the Byzantine era, a complex of five basilicas was built. Note the three-aisled episcopal basilica ("Basilica B"), the baptistry and the mosaics (mostly covered for protection).
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