Roman Roads - Via Egnatia - From Northern Greece To Istanbul (57/151)

Roman Roads - Via Egnatia - From Northern Greece To Istanbul (57/151)

The Via Egnatia, one of the most important roads of antiquity, extended from the Adriatic ports of Durres and Apollonia in present-day Albania to the Bosphorus, to what is now Istanbul. In the 2nd century B.C. the Roman official Gaius Egnatius began supervising the construction of the vast stretch of 860 Roman miles, whose routes had already been predetermined to some extent by Illyrians, Macedonians and Thracians. For over 2,000 years it was the most important arterial road between western and southern Europe. After the decline of the Roman Empire it continued to be used and maintained by the Byzantine rulers. The Crusaders proceeded along the Egnatia from West to East, the Osmans from East to West on their campaigns of conquest from the 14th century onwards. The first episode takes us from the Albanian Adriatic port of Durres along the Roman route of the Via Egnatia through the Polisi mountains. Here, in the deserted mountains of this isolated land, large stretches of the original road have been preserved. In the second part the routes lead from Northern Greece to Istanbul. The great road ends in the former Constantinople, a city full of contrasts and superlatives.