EC allocates €750,000 for restoration of Apollonia in Albania

National Archaeological Park of Apollonia, an important tourist and historic attraction in Albania, will receive a 750-thousand-euro fund from the European Community, according to ATA's report on Monday. Director of the Museum, located in the Park, Admirim Xhela said that representatives and experts of National Archaeological Park and representatives of National Restoration Council will decide on details of use of the fund. One of the objects expected to be reconstructed is the Portico of Apollonia, damaged a few years ago due to landslides. The Portico, built in IV century A.D., contains of collection of statues of most distinguished persons and heroes of the era. Apollonia was an ancient Greek city in Illyria, located on the right bank of the Vjose river. Its ruins are situated in the Fier region of modern-day Albania. Apollonia was founded in 588 BCE by Greek colonists from Corfu and Corinth, on a site initially occupied by Illyrian tribes and was perhaps the most important of the several classical towns known as Apollonia. Apollonia flourished in the Roman period and was home to a renowned school of philosophy, but began to decline in the 3rd century AD when its harbor started silting up as a result of an earthquake. It was abandoned by the end of Late Antiquity.