The Durrës Archaeological Museum in Durrës

Durrës

Durrës is the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about west of the capital Tirana. It is one of the most ancient and economically important cities of Albania. Durres is situated at one of the narrower points of the Adriatic Sea, opposite the Italian ports of Bari...

, Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, established in 1951, is the largest archaeological museum in the country.
The museum is located near the beach and north of the museum are the 6th-century Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 walls, constructed after the Visigoth

Visigoth

The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, the Ostrogoths being the other. These tribes were among the Germans who spread through the late Roman Empire during the Migration Period...

 invasion of 481. The 1997 rebellion in Albania

1997 rebellion in Albania

The 1997 unrest in Albania, also known as the Lottery Uprising or Anarchy in Albania, was an uprising sparked by Ponzi scheme failures...

 saw the museum seriously damaged and looted.

Collection

The bulk of the museum consists of artifacts found in the nearby ancient site of Dyrrhachium and includes an extensive collection from the Ancient Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, Hellenistic and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 periods. Items of major note include Roman funeral steles and stone sarcophagi, an elliptical colourful mosaic measuring 17 by 10 feet and a collection of miniature busts of Venus

Venus (mythology)

Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...

, testament to the time when Durrës was a centre of worship of the goddess.

Reconstruction

In 2010, the Durrës Archaeological Museum is expected to undergo a total reconstruction. Despite the importance of archaeological objects, the museum is not an independent institution and is operated by the Regional Directorate of Durrës Monuments. The museum is supported by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and the Academy of Sciences and intend it to become a national museum according to archaeologists such as Adi Anastasi and Luan Përzhita, given the historical significance of its artifacts and their illustration rich cultural heritage.

A fund has been opened by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports to provide the museum with a new research unit, its own scientific staff and laboratory and administrative body. Problems have been identified in the reconstruction process given that the museum is located near the sea faces erosion from the iodine content of salt and moisture and weathering.