Grama Bay, Albania - the 'Port of Inscriptions'

As soon as I found out that there was a there was a place in Albania with around 1500 historic inscriptions carved into a rock face, I knew I had to visit. However, getting there was not that easy. Grama or Grammata Bay (Gjiri i Gramës in Albanian) is not on your usual tourist itinerary. It is a small inlet in the Ionian Sea, located on the western side of the Karaburun Pensinsula and only accessible by sea - unless you hike over the Rrëza e Kanalit mountains. Luckily for me, I have a good friend in local guide Dorian Disha, and I knew that if anyone could organize a trip it would be him.

Grama Bay is, as the crow flies, not far from the ancient town of Orikum and the modern naval base of Pasha Limani, both situated on the eastern side of the Karaburun Peninsula which is an extension of the Acroceraunian Mountains. Grama and Orikum were both used in antiquity by ancient shipping, just two of the many natural bays and harbours that made the coast of the country we now know as Albania so attractive to peoples with their eyes on trade, supplies and troop movements, such as the Romans and the Venetians.

Grama Bay from the sea, showing the quarried cliff faces 

The geology of the peninsula meant that it was blessed with good limestone and marble deposits sought after by the ancient people of the region when building their cities. In general Illyria and Epirus had a plentiful supply of limestone for construction, but for the facing of public buildings and monumental structures stone from Karaburun was favoured.

The bay was used as a quarry from the period of Greek colonization in Albania until the time of the urbanization of local Illyrian or Epirote settlements during the 4th century BC. Not only was there good stone at Grama, but the cliffs of the bay come right down to the shore of the inlet and provided sheltered anchorage for shipping. Furthermore, once the blocks of stone were cut from the cliff face they could easily be transported by sea to various locations, including the Greek colonies of Epidamnus (more than 100km away to the north) and Apollonia, and possibly also Orikum (though the city had its own quarries nearby, see further reading). Scholars also think that the stone was exported to Brindisi and Lecce across the Straits of Otranto. Unfortunately we don’t know who was doing the quarrying, where they came from, where they lived whilst working, or anything more about the bay during its time as a quarry.

Quarrying ceased by the beginning of the 3rd century BC, and then the inscriptions start to appear, the flattened face of the cliff providing an excellent surface for engraving. The inscriptions were carved over a period of roughly two thousand years, using the different scripts and languages of the travellers who stopped at the bay.


 Inscriptions on the cliff face, and 1980s graffiti

The first phase of inscriptions is from the Hellenistic period and dates from the beginning of the 3rd century BC to the Imperial Roman period. These inscriptions are in Greek. During the Roman and early Christian period the inscriptions are in Latin, and then in the medieval period they revert to Greek, though there are some bilingual inscriptions during this time. There is only one recorded inscription in Turkish. The latest ‘inscriptions’ (including graffiti in red paint) are from soldiers who were stationed on the Peninsula in the 1980s.

The inscriptions were first noted in the 15th century by Cyriac of Ancona who recorded seven texts, and though the ‘Port of Grammata’ appears in Greek portolans of the 16th century (by now the inscriptions had given the place its name), no more were recorded until the 19th century when Leon Heuzey and Henri Daumet were sent on an expedition to Illyria and Macedon by Napoleon III.  Heuzey visited Grama Bay, and out of the 1000 inscriptions that he estimated were in the quarries, he recorded three. It was not until the late 20th century that the Archaeological Institute of Albania made a systematic survey and took squeezes of the inscriptions which they then published in 1996. Albanian archaeologist Faïk Drini considers that there may be as many as 1500 inscriptions.

Naiskos frame 
Most of the inscriptions are carved in smoothed shallow squares worked on the flat surface of the rock. A number of them have more ornamental ‘frames’, including some that depict a ‘naiskos’ or small temple or shrine with columns and pediment. However, although many spaces for inscriptions are clearly visible, the inscriptions themselves are often very badly eroded and difficult (if not impossible) to read. The north cliff face is more exposed to the elements and its inscriptions are not as well preserved. In addition to the inscriptions there are also depictions of objects such as boats, towers and heraldic devices.

A boat on the north side of the quarry 
So, what were people writing on the walls of Grama Bay? Why was this place so important that some 1500 inscriptions were cut upon the faces of a disused quarry?

Study of the Hellenistic inscriptions has revealed frequent mentions of the Dioskouroi. The role of the demigods Castor and Pollux as protector of sailors is known from the 6th century BC onwards. They first appear as the protectors of those crossing the sea in the Homeric Hymns and references occur in tragedies, histories and other literature all the way into the Roman period.


The use of the naiskos or small shrine as a frame is significant. Naiskoi are depicted in a variety of media, most commonly on Greek grave stele and on 4th South Italian vases produced as funerary wares. Their presence at Grama Bay may indicate symbolic representations of shrines and, combined with the body of inscriptions referring to ‘the gods’, particularly the Dioskouroi, suggest that the Cult of the Dioskouroi was practiced there. No structure relating to the cult has been discovered, but Greek sanctuaries did not necessarily need more than an altar for offerings, and it would be natural to thank the guardians of your voyage on reaching the sheltered cove and the safety of the shore.  One inscription refers to ‘great priest’, which offers more evidence for a sanctuary on the site.

Greek inscription 

In many of the inscriptions Castor and Pollux are invoked in the formula ‘έμνήσθη παρά τοις Διοσκόροις’ followed by names in the genitive case. This grammatical structure seems to mean that the travellers remember someone alongside the Dioskouroi, that person sometimes being referred to as a comrade of some kind – for example comrades in arms or companions in slavery. Therefore the formula is not just that of sailors showing gratitude to the gods for having survived the crossing but either acknowledging those who have made offerings or prayers for their safety, or recommending someone else for protection.  By far the greatest number of references are to the Dioskouroi, but there are also inscriptions to Isis and Themis. There are a few funerary inscriptions - one perhaps referring to a death in a shipwreck.


Information on some of the journeys of the travellers may be gleaned from the inscriptions, for example Laodicea is named as an Epirote woman, which suggests a relatively short journey, but some have come from much further afield, such as Pontine Heraclea and even Palestine.  The presence of Latin names, transcribed in Greek, illustrates the journeys made across the Straits of Otranto. 

A variety of inscriptions along the cliff face

The names of a few notables are also included, such as Gnaeus Pompey - probably the son of Pompey the Great, whose role at sea during 49/8 is mentioned in Caesar’s De Bello Civili (III, 4,4; 5.3 and 40). From the period of the Civil Wars onwards, Latin becomes the dominant language of the inscriptions and the cult of Dioskouroi seems to disappear.  The Latin inscriptions are mostly without a religious aspect. Some of them can be dated by the names of consuls, for example the mention of Marc Antony as consul gives a date of 44.

After the spread of Christianity the inscriptions revert to Greek, but the standard of the epigraphy and the grammar declines. Attested from the time of Justinian through to the Middle Ages, they are mainly prayers to Christ asking him for his help.

The most common formula is an invocation and a form of the verb βοήθειν (to help), for example Κ(ύρι)ε βοήθη του δούλου σου (Lord help your servant). The inscriptions are sometimes an acclamation of Christ’s victory, thus: Ί(ησοΰ)ς Χ(ριστό)ς νικά. Many have a cross. 

Perhaps the most famous inscription from the later period is Inscription B1 which records that in the year 6877 (1369) the 'King of the Romans, John Palaeologus' was there. Byzantine Emperor John V Palaeologus journeyed to Rome in 1369 to meet Pope Urban V. What was he doing in Grama Bay? Did his ship put in there because of bad weather? Unfortunately the inscription does not record a reason - by this time the inscriptions often simply record that people had passed through the place.





The remoteness of Grama Bay and the lack of routes inland from it meant that it did not develop as a harbour. There are plenty of other good natural harbours along the coast, and the small, secluded inlet was no longer used so frequently. Occasional visitors added their 'graffiti' to the walls through the next few centuries. 

By the time of the Second World War Grama Bay was so little used that it was ‘discovered’ and chosen by Special Operations Executive Liaison Officer Anthony Quayle as a landing place for the boats coming from Italy to drop supplies or make pick ups.

Looking out from the beach 
Today the Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park is designated as a National Marine Park because of its natural beauty, archaeological significance and important ecology. The peninsula provides a habitat for rare flora and endangered fauna – the sea caves dotted around Karaburun are a unique ecosystem and are home to the Mediterranean monk seal, the rarest seal species in the world.

We visited Grama Bay in 2014 with local guide Dorian Disha. I was lucky enough to be accompanied by my dear friends Jan, Ivor and Michael as part of a recce of some of the more obscure sites in Albania. It's a fascinating place but many of the inscriptions were badly eroded or otherwise damaged: they are open to the elements and not protected from inquisitive visitors. So it is probably a good idea that Grama Bay, with its amazing inscriptions, is difficult to get to.

How to find the site

We (via Dorian) hired a private boat from Dhermi, a village to the south of the Karaburun Peninsula. If you do visit the site, please be very careful and aware of the fragile environment and inscriptions and leave no trace of your visit.

Coordinates:            40°1256N 19°2824E

Dorian Disha is a licensed guide and I have no hesitation in recommending him. If you would like to travel with Dorian he can be contacted on +355 69 8228244 or via email doriandisha76@gmail.com.   

Further Reading

Pierre Cabanes, Faïk Drini: Corpus des inscriptions grecques d’Illyrie méridionale et d’Épire 3: Inscriptions d’Albanie (en dehors des sites d’Épidamne-Dyrrhachion, Apollonia et Bouthrôtos). Études Épigraphiques, 2.3.   Athènes:  École française d'Athènes, 2016.  Pp. 336.  ISBN 9782869582620

Arben Hajdari, Joany Reboton, Saïmir Shpuza & Pierre Cabanes: Les inscriptions de Grammata (Albanie) Revue des Études Grecques Année 2007 120-2 pp. 353–394
http://www.persee.fr/doc/reg_0035-2039_2007_num_120_2_7870#

Lefter Kashta, Sajmir Beqairaj, Virginie Tilot, Violeta Zuna, Eno Dobiba: The first MPA in Albania, Sazani Island – Karaburuni Peninsula, as a regional priority conservation area for marine biodiversity, Varsto Narave, Supl. 1 (2011) 139
http://www.zrsvn.si/dokumenti/63/2/2011/Kashta_2525.pdf

Bailey, Roderick: The Wildest Province: SOE in the Land of the Eagle, Vintage 2009



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