Have you ever heard of Via Egnatia?
It is an important historical road name because it doesn’t belong to one country, but to a lot of them.
With a length of about 861 km, Via Egnatia has been suitable for the movement of passengers and caravans. The Egnatia road started from Durrës and Apollonia, then these two branches joined somewhere near Elbasan to continue through Ohrid and Bitola and ended in Thessaloniki.
In the 4th century AD, the Egnatia Road extended as far as Constantinople and was the continuation of the old Roman road Via Apia. Strategically important, the Egnatia Road united the West with the East.This track got its name from its builder, proconsul Cnaeus Egnatius, son of Caius. His name is found in two inscriptions, which are in the museum of Thessaloniki.
Via Egnatia stations
The main branch of the Egnatia Road passed more or less in the direction of today’s highway. The first stop was Clodiana, identified with present-day Peqin. The secondstation was Ad Quintum, which coincides with the Roman nymph complex in Bradashesh. The road continued towards Scampis (Elbasan), on the north side of today’s highway and met it at Treieceto station somewhere near Miraka. After passing through the Shkumbin straits the road climbed the slope of Polis mountain to reach the neck of Gajor, which coincides with the station Ad Dianam or Grandavia.
The road tracks go down to Qukës where the ‘Tres Tabernas’ or ‘In Candabia’ station was located. Then it continued towards Pishkash and Rrajca at the ‘Pons Servili’ station to get to Qafa e Thanës, where the ‘Clavdanon’ station was located. Further the road continued to Lyhnid. In the territory of the Pogradec region there are several branches of Egnatia Street, the famous road that in antiquity connected Rome with Constantinople.
There are several bridges and fragments of this ancient road that start from the Golik bridge, the Terzi bridge in Proptisht, the bridge in the Llenga valley and the Nice bridge.The road is distinguished by the large stones that we find in the gorge of Llenga, near the valley of the Shkumbin River.
Apostle Paul through Via Egnatia
In his Epistle to the Romans Paul emphasizes the extent of his missionary activities in the assertion that “from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (15:19)
The Apostle Paul passed through this road on his journey to Illyria & Rome. The route of Paul’s second missionary journey through Greece is inspirational for both pilgrims and history buffs alike. It all began with a dream in which a Macedonian man invites Paul to visit Macedonia to help them (Acts 16:9). With this, Paul set sail for Neapolis (present-day Kavala) in the winter of 49 CE. He quickly passed through the city, exiting by way of the Via Egnatia, the main road through Macedonia at the time. His destination was Philippi, the most important Roman settlement in the region (Acts 16:11).
