Durrës

Durrës
Municipality and City
Seal
Durrës
Coordinates: 41°19′N 19°27′E
Country	Albania
County	Durrës County
District	Durrës District
Regions (Rajone)	6
Founded	627 BC
Government
• Mayor	Vangjush Dako (PS)
Elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population  (2011)
• Municipality and City	115,550
• Metro	265,330
Time zone	UTC+1 (Central European Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	2001-2009
Area code	052
Website	www.durres.gov.al

Durrës is the second largest city of Albania. It is on the central Albanian coast, about 33 kilometres (21 mi) west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durrës is at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea. It is opposite the Italian ports of Bari (300 kilometres (190 mi) away) and Brindisi (200 kilometres (120 mi) away). Durrës is home to Albania's main port, the Port of Durrës. The Aleksandër Moisiu University is here. The town has about 115,550 people. Durrës was the national capital from 7 March 1914 until 11 February 1920 .

Climate

Durrës has a typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and cool winters. The average of water temperature in Durrës is from 14 °C (57 °F) in February to 26 °C (79 °F) in August. The summer in Durrës starts from May to middle of October .

History

Durrës was founded as a Greek colony, in 627 BC. It was called Epidamnos by the Greeks, and Epidamnus by the Romans. Around 436 BC there was a civil war, which caused the Peloponnesian War. Around 200 BC, Plautus wrote a comeny, Menaechmi, which takes plce in Epidamos. After the Illyro-Roman Wars Epidamnos became a Roman protectorate. It changed its name to Dyrrhachium (Dyrrháchion Δυρράχιον in Greek). They also built the Via Egnatia, which linked Dyrrachium to Byzantium. It was the contiuation of the Via Appia, which ended in Brindisi, 150km away across the Adriatic Sea.