While many people head to the amphitheater of Durrës, not many appear to take the time to visit the nearby remains of the old Byzantine marketplace. The Byzantine Forum is located in the center of modern Durrës, as it would have been when it was originally constructed at the heart of the ancient city of Dyrrhachium or Dyrrah.
The forum was built during the late 6th century, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Anastasios. It has a circular paved area about 40 meters in diameter. At the center of the paved area stands a podium and a well, which are surrounded by Corinthian columns. Originally there would have been 40 columns, but only a few are still standing. The forum resembles Constantine’s Curved Forum in Constantinople which was unfortunately destroyed in 1204 by soldiers during the Fourth Crusade.
The rotunda inside the forum, with a diameter of almost six meters, may have once held a monumental statue but that has been lost to time.
The forum would have held city meetings, major transactions, and important government decisions. It occupied a central position in relation to the other large public and religious buildings, and with the Great Mosque and opera house nearby, it still feels central to city life.
