domenica 20 agosto 2023

Egnatia street: from Durraz to "Ad quintum" change station

 This summer I have travelled on a short piece of the ancient Romans Egnatia street, that connected the city of Durraz (Albania) to Constantinople.

The columns that show the beginning of Egnatia Street

The first mosaic nearby the 2 columns 

The second one

Egnatia street was build in the II century before Christ by Gneo Egnatius, proconsul of Macedonia. During the street there were many change stations; these stations allowed the travelers to relax, having a bath in the thermal complex, enjoying a meal and to change their tired horses with new ones. All these services were for free, but the traveler, to enjoy what described before, had to have a particular document, a sort of "VIP pass". Obviously, the main travelers who enjoyed these kind of stations were military or political messengers. 

I have visited the station of "ad quintum", that was built in the II century after Christ. It consists in a thermal complex, a garden and a room where to enjoy meals. Unfortunately the site nowadays is almost abandoned, as you can see in the following photos.


Dressing room


Hot steam room
Room where to eat and a second room where the water heater was placed

Calidarium (hot bath) room









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