VIA EGNATIA
TO ROME AND BYZANTIUM
Traveling the Egnatia highway between Thessaloniki and Kavala, Greece.
View of Lake Volvi while traveling the Egnatia highway east toward Istanbul, Turkey.
Goats slow down traffic near Lake Volvi.
3 - 3
<
>
Tourists visit the ancient Lion of Amphipolis.
1 - 1
<
>
Istanbul, Turkey
Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, at the end of the Via Egnatia.
The Million marks the distance of major cities in the region from Istanbul.
The end of Via Egnatia in Istanbul.
Area of Yedikule, ancient protective walls of Istanbul.
A skyline view of Istanbul from the neighborhood of Yedikule.
Tourists view the city of Istanbul atop the ancient walls of Yedikule.
7 - 7
<
>
View of the coast near Durrës, Albania, where the Via Egnitia began on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Women stroll the waterfront in Durrës, the western terminus of a more than 1,100-kilometer road that ends in Istanbul.
A group of women walk through the city of Durrës, a historically busy travel route and western end of the Via Egnatia.
Homes in Durrës stand amid the ruins overlooking the Strait of Otranto, connecting the Adriatic Sea from the Ionian Sea where about 70 kilometers across the water lies Brindisi, Italy and the connection to Rome.
A Venetian tower in Durrës testifies to the city's checkered contested history.
1 - 5
<
>
In Albanian, the Rugga Egnatia sign marks the route of the historic road in the city of Elbasan, Albania.
Turkish baths in Elbasan, Albania, speak to the Ottoman influence along the route even before the Ottomans conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
Children play among the ruins in Elbasan.
A Roman bath at Ad Quintum ("At Five [miles]") was discovered in 1968 under a landslide of debris, just outside of Elbasan, Albania.
In Albanian, the Rugga Egnatia sign marks the route of the historic road in Elbasan city of more than 140,000.
Residents make their way through part of the inner-walls of, Elbasan, Albania.
Women gather on a rooftop patio in Elbasan, Albania.
Park area in Elbasan, Albania.
Modern construction in Elbasan goes on above archeology.
8 - 9
<
>
A man walks along the Via Egnatia near Mirakë, Albania, between Elbasan and Ohrid, Macedonia.
Roman paving stones from the Via Egnatia near Mirakë, Albania, between Elbasan and Ohrid, Macedonia. Less than one percent of the Roman stones used to build the Via Egnatia exist today.
A man and his donkey walk across the Ura e Kamares bridge near Mirakë, Albania.
A man walks across the Ura e Kamares bridge near Mirakë, Albania.
A shepherd provokes a goat to jump onto its hind legs on the Ura e Kamares bridge near Mirakë, Albania.
5 - 5
<
>
Babjë, Albania, near the Shkumbin river valley.
A shepherd boy runs behind his goats near Babjë, Albania, where bunkers were placed during World War II.
A shepherd boy escorts his goats near Babjë, Albania, where bunkers were placed during World War II.
Women hike up a road near Babjë, Albania.
Shkumbin River near Babjë, Albania.
1 - 5
<
>
Hot spring west of Alexandroupoli.
Dome Hamam, or Turkish bath near Alexandroupoli.
In and around Traianopolis.
People gather at dusk in Alexandroupoli.
In and around Alexandroupoli.
1 - 5
<
>
A mosque in Genisea, Greece.
Genisea, Greece.
1 - 2
<
>
City of Xanthi, Greece.
Rhodope Mountains just north of Xanthi, Greece.
The Tekes Kioutouklou Baba, an Ottoman tomb found off the western shore of Lake Vistonida. outside of Xanthi, Greece.
2 - 3
<
>
In Kavala, this Ottoman-built aqueduct was commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century.
Kavala, Greece.
Perched atop Kavala's ancient aqueduct, youth gather to take in the views of the Agean Sea.
3 - 3
<
>
Tourists make memories on ancient Greek ruins in Philippi, Greece.
Via Egnatia links not only Western and Eastern empires, but also more than two millennia of history over 1,120 kilometers, witnessed by a marker found amid the ruins of Philippi, Greece,
2 - 2
<
>
The bustling seafront in Thessaloniki, Greece.
A vendor sells balloons outside the White Tower of Thessaloniki. Thessaloniki was founded in 316/315 bc by Cassander, King of Macedonia.
Traversing northern Greece, the Via Egnatia passes through its second-largest city, Thessaloniki, where the Arch of Galerius stands at the intersection of Egnatia and Dimitrios Gounari Streets.
At the intersection of Egnatia and Aristotelous is the Loutra Paradisos, an Ottoman public bathhouse in Thessaloniki.
People gather at sunset on the shore on the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea in Thessaloniki, Greece.
A container ship in the distance passes through as a smaller boat is anchored in the Aegean Sea in Thessaloniki, home of one of the largest ports in Greece, the Port of Thessaloniki.
Tourists capture the view from the White Tower of Thessaloniki.
Inscribed in Latin and Greek, this detail of a milestone on display in Thessaloniki shows the name of Gaius Egnatius, the second-century Roman senator and governor of Macedonia who led the construction of the Via Egnatia in the second century bce.
View of the Aegean Sea in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Market in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Modern is mixed in the with ancient in Thessaloniki, Greece.
As the sun sets, people are illuminated by street lights in Thessaloniki, Greece.
8 - 12
<
>
Crossing the border from Macedonia, the Via Egnatia continues through Greece, here in Edessa.
A balcony allows modern tourists to enjoy a waterfall in Edessa, Greece.
Scenic view in Edessa, Greece.
3 - 3
<
>
Bitola, Macedonia, split by the Dragor River, and its main street, Shirok Sokak, is now a pedestrian mall faced with 19th–century neo-classical Ottoman mansions, built with money from the once-lucrative tobacco trade. So many western European companies were based here that Bitola was called the “city of consuls.”
A mosque minaret in Bitola, Macedonia.
Men in Bitola, Macedonia, gather outside.
Ruins of Heraclea Lyncestis an ancient Greek city two kilometers south of Bitola, Macedonia.
3 - 4
<
>
A café in the village of Qukës Skanderbej, between Elbasan and Ohrid, provides for passersby today much as did the many mansios, or inns, and mutatios, or horse-changing stations, of the past.
Prrenjas, Albania.
1 - 2
<
>
A wedding reception in Dardhë, Albania.
Dardhë, Albania, a border town just outside Greece.
A group of men travel along a mountain road in Dardhë, Albania.
Dardhë, Albania near the border of Greece.
3 - 4
<
>