Hadrianopolis or Hadrianoupolis () was an ancient town in the valley of the river

Drino The Drino or Drinos (, ) is a river in southern Albania and northwestern Greece, and a tributary of the Vjosë. Its source is in the northwestern part of the Ioannina regional unit, near the village Delvinaki. The 84.6 km (52.6 mi) long Drino ...

, in the province of

ancient Epirus Epirus (; Epirote Greek: , ; Attic Greek: , ) was an ancient Greek kingdom, and later republic, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in parts of north-western Greece and southern Albania. Home to the ancient Epirotes, the state was bor ...

and Illyricum. It is located near Sofratikë,

Dropull Dropull ( sq-definite, Dropulli; ''Dropoli'' or ''Deropoli'') is a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek–Albanian border, along the Drino river. The reg ...

, south of Gjirokaster, Albania. It lies on the site of a Greek Classical and Hellenistic settlement from the late 5th century BC. Hellenistic settlements were concentrated on the hills for defense, and for strategically dominating the valley, such as the nearby city of Antigonia. They controlled access through the mountains and to the sea. In the Roman period, under more peaceful times, the settlement shifted to the valley and the town lay on an important road midway between Apollonia and

Nicopolis Nicopolis () or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus (Roman province), Epirus. Its site, near Preveza, Greece, still contains impressive ruins. The city was founded in 29 BC by Octavian in commemoration of his ...

. The oldest buildings found are from the early Roman Imperial age; a small temple in ''

opus quadratum ''Opus quadratum'' ("squared work") is an ancient Roman construction technique, in which squared blocks of stone of the same height were set in parallel courses, most often without the use of Mortar (masonry), mortar. The Latin author Vitruvius d ...

'' and a circular structure later obliterated by the theatre. Under Hadrian (117–138 AD), the settlement was elevated to the status of city, becoming the capital and administrative centre of the region. It then reached its greatest expansion and monumentalisation with public buildings, including the theatre and baths. Organised on an orthogonal urban plan, the town occupies an area of 400m by 300–350m. The theatre's ''

cavea The ''cavea'' (Latin language, Latin for "enclosure") are the seating sections of Theatre of ancient Greece, Greek and Roman theatre (structure), Roman theatres and Roman amphitheatre, amphitheatres. In Roman theatres, the ''cavea'' is tradition ...

'' of 58m in diameter was built on a large artificial embankment with vaults of ''

opus caementicium Roman concrete, also called , was used in construction in ancient Rome. Like its modern equivalent, Roman concrete was based on a hydraulic-setting cement added to an aggregate. Many buildings and structures still standing today, such as br ...

''. During the 4th century AD it was restored and reorganised to host ''

venationes Venatio (, "hunting", plural ''venationes'') was a type of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving the hunting and killing of wild animals. History Venatio was first introduced by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who celebrated his Greek campa ...

'' (hunts of wild animals) and perhaps gladiator fights. The theatre's cavea still stands to a height of several metres. The baths visible today of the 3th century AD replaced the previous Hadrianic complex with a smaller version. A necropolis has been found to extend over a significant area beyond the urban limits. After a period of crisis from the beginning of the 4th and until the end of the 5th century AD, the town was restored by

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

and called Justinianopolis. It became the see of a bishop. During this period, a small church was built inside the theatre, houses and shops occupied the area of the baths, and the small ancient temple was demolished and embedded in a complex of buildings, perhaps with a residential function. As early as the 7th century AD the city was abandoned but the name of Drynopolis and its bishopric continued to be attested throughout the Byzantine and medieval periods. About twelve miles down river are the ruins of a fortress or small town of the Byzantine age, called Dryinopolis. The probability is that when Hadrianopolis fell into ruins,

Dryinopolis Dryinopolis or Dryinoupolis () is a historical region in southwestern Albania and northwestern Greece in Epirus. The heartland of this region is the valley of the Drino (Greek: Drinos) river and Dropull/Dropolis. A Greek-Orthodox bishopric under ...

was built on a different site and became the see of the bishop. Hadrianopolis remains a

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Excavations

Excavations have been carried out for more than a decade, by a team from Macerata University, the Albanian Archaeological Institute, and Oxford University.https://www.9colonne.it/79353/excavations-at-hadrianopolis-resume Theatre of Hadrianopolis.png, Theatre Theatre of Hadrianopolis 2.png, Theatre Hadrianopolis baths.jpg, Baths Hadrianopolis temple.jpg, Temple

References

Populated places in ancient Epirus Former populated places in Albania Hadrian Ruins in Albania Archaeological sites in Albania Catholic titular sees in Europe {{Europe-RC-titularsee-stub