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Popular Things To Do | Other Things To Do Tips | All Tips (40) During the first Balkanic war, Major Lodewijk W.J.K. Thomson was in mission of peace in Albania. He was the first Dutch soldier to die in this peace mission and his death lead to the withdrawal of the entire peace corp. In the Netherland a monument reminding his memory was built in 1918 in Groningen, The monument was a bust carved first by Charles van Wijk and, after his death, by Prof Arend Willem Maurits Odé. In 2002, it was relocated to Den Hague. The goal of the Thomson Foundation is to remind the almost forgotten Dutch peace mission in Albania.
A monument had also been erected in Durrėsi where LWJK Thompson died. This monument was later destroyed. A wild guess would be that this occurred during Enver Hoxja regime, when a monument to a foreign military should have been considered as an offence to the nation.
Thomson was made honorary citizen of Durrėsi in 2000 and awarded from the Albanian government the countrys highest honor, the Golden Eagle. His grandson received this honor in belief of his grandfather. The Albanian parliament approved that the new military academy for junior officers in Durrėsi would be named after him. This Albanian academy has a cooperation with the Royal Military Academy in Weert (Netherlands).
In Durrėsi, in may/june 2003 a bronze replica of the Groningen monument has been erected to replace the destroyed monument. However, what I do not understand well is that the Groningen/Den Hague monument is a bust while the replica in Durrėsi is a carved bronze sheet written in Albanian affixed on an ancient Romans column! Strange! Leave a Comment
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The amphitheater in Dürres was inscribed in 1976 on the Unesco Wold Heritage tentative list. It considered to be the largest in the Balkans with a special architectural value. It is 136 meters wide, which makes it a bit larger than the amphitheater in Pula (132 meters) but amazingly while Pula can handle 23,000 spectators, it is consider to handle only 10,000 to 20,000.
It was completely buried under meters of sediments and the city center was built over. It was only half unearthed in 1966. I visited it in 1988 (second photo) and since then, nothing has changed, no further diggings have been made.
It was built at the very beginning of the first century AD and its quality is a testimony of the wealth of the city at that period. After dramatic social and economical changes took place in the statute of the city, it was no longer in use after the 4th century AD. A Byzantine chapel was built in one of the galleries. Leave a Comment
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The Byzantine tower stands at end of the city wall closest to the sea. It overhangs the harbor. A restaurant is open on top of the tower and certainly (we have not been there) offers an excellent view on the city and the harbor.
Unfortunately a 7 stories building has recently been built just near the tower and I had hard time to avoid having it on the photo! Leave a Comment
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In front of the Byzantine tower, stands a monument to the heroes of the people (hero I popullit) with six names carved on a column on which is standing a man with a machine gun and showing inland with his raised hand. The main carving says Mujo Ulqinaku. That refers to Ulqin (Ulcinj in Montengro) but I dont know what is the connection.
Thank you Sula_G for giving me the answer. I quote her
"Mujo Ulqinaku- the first Albanian hero of the WWII. His last name is Ulqinaku, which means "from Ulcin" (a city in Montenegro, mostly inhabited by Albanians), meaning that his ancestors came from that city, hence the last name." Leave a Comment
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When I took this photo of three ancient Romans columns in a triangular tiny little square, I felt that it was the remains of some ancient Romans monument and that the carved bronze sheet written in Albanian affixed on the one that had no Corynthian capital would explain what it was about.
Once home, even with the help of an Albanian dictionary, I was unable to understand the carving, that said :
Kolonelit LWJK Thompson dhe te cjith dishmorvet te tjere qi shkrine veten per lirine e shqipnise qyteti Durresit u ncrefi kete permentore si kujtim mr njoftesije. Durrėsi*
Then, I made a Google search on LWJK Thompson and found five websites, all of them in Dutch!
Nevertheless, I succeeded in understanding that Lodewijk Willem Johan Karel Thomson (born in Voorschoten, 11 june 1869, died in Durrėsi 15 June 1914) was a Dutch military that had also been in politics.
Wilhem de Wied, a German Prince landed in Durrėsi on 17 March 1914 to become king of Albania for les than 6 month!), following an agreement between the Great Powers.
I was puzzled by the case and asked ATLC to help me understand the Dutch written documents. Thanks a lot Anke-Thea for your help! From what I got from Anke-Thea, I can write the following on next tip (it was too long for a single tip) Leave a Comment
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The fantastically named King Zog, a name often used in Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches, was the improbable ruler of the first Albanian nation. He was actually an elected president, and shunned by the European royalty for his lack of blue blood, but the local population was still living under the same feudal serfdom that they had since Ottoman times, and eventually crowned him as king, as the concept of president was still alien to them.
Despite his legendary name, his performance was a bit of a mixed bag. He weeded out the last remnants of serfdom in the country. He instigated modern reforms, like banning the veil. He tried his best at diplomacy, but the poverty of the country, and the expansionist intentions of nearby Italy made this almost impossible, and he slowly let the country drift into Mussolini's sphere of influence.
He was also a bit of a jet setter, with his cocked military cap hinting at the waggish lifestle he led. He reputedly spent as much as 2% of the Albanian budget on his lavish lifestyle. He was often seen in the theatres and clubs of Europe, living the high life. This was something he couldn't do in Albania, due to the lack of any high life at all.
It's quite possible he drank and partied in order to forget the troubles of politics. In his relatively short reign as king, he was reportedly subject to 55 assassination attempts, and was under threat of over 600 blood feuds, for his many breaches of Albania's ancient law, the Kanun. He finished his life in exile in France, after unsuccessfully attempting to bribe the US government into letting him bring his entire court to the country.
His residence in Durres, a white and pink palace on the hills overlooking the harbour, is one of the main sights in the city. It's not possible to visit now, as it is occupied by the military, but you can walk up there and the views are great. It's also on the way to the lighthouse which has even better views. Leave a Comment
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The lighthouse isn't special, but the views are. It's not that much of a walk to get up there either, although the last little stretch up onto the cliff top is tricky. The views are really worth it, so if you get that far, keep going. We had a picnic up there, on the concrete base of a destroyed bunker. Eating dry Albanian bread, dry Italian biscuits, in the baking heat, along with copious amounts of Tepelene water. This water comes with the soon to be infamous logo: "suffled how it gush from the source of the woods of Tepelena"! Leave a Comment
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Free entrance into the amphitheater is fine, but is the entrance through this small door into a corrugated iron amazing structure? Luckily, this is not, but visitors walk down on the right, where one stair can be seen. Anyway, I wonder why this pustule is staying here: it does not date back from the ancient Romans and it is not modern neither! Leave a Comment
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Fathi Djami (Mosque of the Conqueror) was built in 1502 as a hommage to sultan Mehmet II. It was built in a place where was a Byzantine church. In 1979, it was damaged by an earthquake while it was no longer in use. It has now been repaired and is in excellent condition. Leave a Comment
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A city wall was built at the same time than the amphitheater but was put down by earthquakes. The one we can see was built much later by the Byzantines, the Venetians and the Ottomans. The oldest part was built in the Vth century AD. It is all made with brick and is several meters thick. Near the amphitheater, a vaulted entrance allows to enter in the city. This is where you can see how thick the wall is!
Along the walls, on the outer part, a public garden has been set with bancs. Leave a Comment
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on September 29, 2007
on July 18, 2007
