SITE ARCHÉOLOGIQUE DE PHOENICÈ

Surrounded by bunkers, this site (Parku Arkeologjik i Finiqit, Αρχαιολογίκο Πάρκο Φοινίκης/Archaiologiko Parko Finikis) contains the remains of Phœnicè, the political center of the Greek Chaonian tribe from the^5th century BC onwardsC. Unearthed by a Franco-Italian team in the 1920s, the site contains the remains of a Greek theater, Roman dwellings, a Byzantine basilica and cyclopean walls (^4th century BC) 3.60 m wide. Phœnicè had to defend itself against its Illyrian neighbors. According to legend, it was founded by Aeacus, father of Achilles, on his return from the Trojan War. The name Phœnicè(Phiniki in Greek) also comes from Asia Minor: the Greeks associated the Phoenicians(Phinikes) with the red color(phinos) of blood. Phœnicè became the capital of all the Greek tribes of Epirus in the ^3rd century B.C., thanks to its port of Onchesmos (Saranda). Its brief capture by the Gallic mercenaries of the Illyrian queen Teuta in 231 BC was one of the triggers for the Roman invasion of the Balkans. In 205 BC, the Treaty of Phœnicè was signed here at the end of the First Macedonian War between Rome and Macedonia. The city remained the cultural center of the region, until it was dethroned by its neighbor Mesopotamos in the ^6th century, then abandoned in the ^13th century. Down below, Finiq or Φοινίκη/Finiki (1,300 inhabitants) remains largely Greek-speaking.