DURRËS, Albania — In the years of the Italian occupation of Albania, ancient Dyrrhachium became an important focus of archaeological research, but also part of a much broader political and cultural project pursued by Fascist Italy.
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| Italian officers inspect ancient stone monuments in Durrës during the wartime occupation (1939–1943). Large stone artifacts from these Italian-led excavations remained in the city, forming the foundation for the Archaeological Museum of Durrës, while research continues into the fate of smaller portable items [cite: What Remained in Durrës?, Large stone monuments presented a very different logistical problem., The archaeological heritage that remained in Durrës subsequently became an important foundation for the city's post-war archaeological institutions., The history of the Archaeological Museum of Durrës is closely connected with the efforts of Albanian archaeologists after the Second World War to collect, preserve and study the city's ancient remains., The Archives May Hold the Missing Answers. |
Today, questions surrounding the fate of archaeological discoveries made in Durrës during this period remain highly sensitive: What was discovered? What remained in Albania? What was transferred to Italy? And what was lost during the collapse of Italian control in 1943?
Historical research provides answers to some of these questions, while others still require deeper archival investigation.
Why Roman Discoveries Dominated the Excavations
Ancient Durrës — known as Epidamnos and later Dyrrhachium — was one of the most important cities on the eastern Adriatic.
Archaeological research has demonstrated that the city's history extends well beyond the Roman period, with evidence from Greek, Hellenistic, Roman and later phases. Modern archaeological missions have also emphasized that the urban history of Durrës cannot be reduced to its Roman heritage.
Nevertheless, Roman remains were particularly important in the excavations conducted during the Italian period.
Funerary monuments, inscriptions, architectural elements, ceramics, coins and other objects provided extensive evidence of the Roman city's social and cultural life.
The archaeological literature records work by P. C. Sestieri, including studies of inscriptions and funerary stelae from Durrës published during the early 1940s.
Archaeology and Fascist Italy's Political Narrative
Archaeology in occupied Albania cannot be separated entirely from the political environment in which it operated.
Italian archaeological activity in Albania had begun well before the 1939 invasion. The Italian Archaeological Mission was active from the 1920s, initially under Luigi Maria Ugolini, and continued through figures including Pirro Marconi and Domenico Mustilli. Archival research into the mission's activities documents extensive correspondence between Italian authorities, archaeologists and Albanian institutions.
Mustilli himself directed the Italian Archaeological Mission in Albania and Kosovo between 1938 and 1941. His publications included works dealing explicitly with Roman expansion and the ancient history of the eastern Adriatic.
This archaeological interest also existed alongside Fascist Italy's attempt to construct a historical narrative centered on Rome's ancient presence in the Balkans.
That does not mean that every excavation or archaeological discovery was simply an act of propaganda. Archaeological work produced genuine scientific documentation and remains important to scholarship today. But the political use of Roman history by Fascist Italy is an essential part of the historical context in which these excavations took place.
The Question of the Missing Archaeological Finds
One of the most controversial questions concerns the fate of smaller and more valuable objects recovered during the excavations.
Coins, jewelry, small bronze objects, ceramics and other portable artifacts were considerably easier to transport than large stone monuments.
Claims have circulated that significant quantities of archaeological material from Durrës were transferred to Italy during the occupation, while other objects disappeared during the chaotic period surrounding Italy's capitulation in September 1943.
However, these claims should be treated carefully.
Available scholarly and archival sources confirm the extensive activity of the Italian archaeological mission and the existence of official documentation concerning its work.
But the more specific claim that particular groups of Durrës artifacts were systematically transferred to specific museums in Rome — including the Museo Nazionale Romano or the Museo delle Civiltà — requires object-by-object archival and inventory verification.
The same applies to claims that large quantities of material were stolen from archaeological storage facilities in September 1943 and subsequently entered private collections in Italy, Germany or Austria.
These are important historical questions, but they should not be presented as established facts without the corresponding inventories, transport records, museum registers or archival documents.
What Remained in Durrës?
Large stone monuments presented a very different logistical problem.
Funerary stelae, architectural fragments, columns and other heavy archaeological elements were considerably more difficult to remove, particularly during wartime.
The archaeological heritage that remained in Durrës subsequently became an important foundation for the city's post-war archaeological institutions.
The history of the Archaeological Museum of Durrës is closely connected with the efforts of Albanian archaeologists after the Second World War to collect, preserve and study the city's ancient remains.
The later development of archaeological research has also shown just how extensive the ancient city was. Modern excavations have repeatedly uncovered remains belonging not only to the Roman period but also to the Hellenistic, Classical and Archaic phases of Durrës.
A City Whose Archaeological Heritage Was Fragmented
Calling Durrës “the most looted city in the world” may be a powerful journalistic expression, but it is not a historical classification that can be established from the evidence currently available.
What can be established is that Durrës experienced repeated waves of archaeological intervention, urban transformation, wartime disruption and later construction that complicated the preservation and documentation of its ancient heritage.
A modern archaeological study of Durrës notes that successive urban interventions — including major Italian works in the port during 1928–1932, later drainage projects and rapid modern urban development — have made it increasingly difficult to precisely locate some older archaeological discoveries and reconstruct the ancient city's historical landscape.
This is perhaps the deeper story behind Durrës: not simply a story of objects disappearing, but of an ancient city whose archaeological record was repeatedly fragmented.
The Archives May Hold the Missing Answers
The most important unanswered questions are therefore archival.
To establish precisely what happened to the archaeological material excavated in Durrës between 1939 and 1943, researchers would need to compare:
- excavation inventories;
- Italian mission reports;
- Albanian government records;
- transport and customs documentation;
- wartime correspondence;
- museum acquisition registers;
- post-war Albanian archaeological inventories;
- Italian state archival records;
- and, where possible, surviving private collection documentation.
Research into the Italian archaeological mission has already demonstrated that significant archival material survives concerning its activities in Albania between 1924 and 1943.
That documentation provides an opportunity to move the debate beyond historical memory and political claims and toward a verifiable inventory of what was excavated, what was transferred, what disappeared and what remained in Albania.
Durrës' Roman Past Belongs to a Much Larger History
The archaeological importance of Durrës does not depend on the Roman period alone.
The city was Epidamnos/Dyrrhachium, a major Adriatic center whose history stretches across many centuries. Contemporary archaeological missions continue to investigate its development from the 6th century BC to the modern era, combining Albanian and international expertise.
The legacy of the Italian excavations is therefore contradictory.
They produced important archaeological discoveries and documentation, but they also operated within a colonial and Fascist political environment whose relationship with Albania's cultural heritage deserves critical examination.
The question facing historians today is not simply how many artifacts left Durrës.
It is whether the surviving archives can finally tell the complete story of where those artifacts went — and who ultimately took possession of them.