A visit to the Illyrian city of Dimal

Last week I decided to visit the Illyrian city of Dimal, an archaeological site between Berat and Fier. The site doesn’t feature in my guide books, apart from a passing (and geographically confusing) reference to it in the 1996 edition of the Blue Guide, but I became interested in it after reading about how the municipality of Ura Vajgurore had changed its name to Dimal after the ancient city in its environs.

The apsidal wall (see below) 

As usual, when I want to find somewhere off the beaten track, I enlisted the help of my friend and local guide Dorian Disha. This turned out to be a very wise move indeed, as the so-called road to the site not only needed my trusty 4 by 4 ML, but an experienced and fearless driver. There aren’t any photos of the track as my hands were too busy gripping my seat!

The site is on a foothill of the Shpirag mountain range, and like many Illyrian settlements is on a limestone spur with views overlooking neighbouring valleys and easily defendable. To the north of the site lies the alluvial Myzeqe plain which in earlier times was swampy and often flooded.  Crossing the plain in ancient times was unpredictable, and so the road from the south turned inland and ran immediately north of the foothill: Dimal was settled in an important strategic position, 400m plus above sea level, with the mountain behind it and overlooking a key route to ancient Macedonia.

One of the views from the site 

The ruins of the city were first explored by Austrian archaeologist Camillo Praschniker in 1917 but it was Albanian archaeologist Burhan Dautaj (who excavated the site from 1963 to 1976) who identified it with the Dimal mentioned in ancient sources, and the discovery of roof tiles stamped with the city’s name in Greek confirmed his theory. A joint German/Albanian/Swiss team resumed excavations in 2010 for several seasons and also carried out geophysical surveys, adding greatly to our knowledge of the city. Today the site is quite overgrown, and is not easy to access. Only the acropolis area of the site is recorded as a national monument, the rest is public agricultural land. Since ancient times the site has suffered both from severe erosion and also the robbing of any visible stone structures so often only the foundations are preserved.

The acropolis 

The settlement covers the top of a low hill of around 9 hectares, running about 600m in an east-west direction and surrounded by a city wall. The east end, known as the acropolis, is higher (approx. 445m above sea level) and was fortified in the earliest phase of the settlement. The west knoll is lower and in the saddle between an open area or agora was created, surrounded by a residential area. The acropolis had a second ‘agora’ or open space with public buildings, and on the western slope of the plateau there was a theatre. Dimal had a good water supply from a spring on the slope of the hill, and wells within the city walls.

Dimal seems to have been established in the late Iron Age. Though some finds indicate a presence in the 5th/4thC BCE, the earliest structure discovered is the acropolis wall, dating to the 4th/3rdC BCE and indeed Dimal may initially have been a fortress rather than a settlement.

Following the conquest of the area by Rome during the First Macedonian War, the settlement developed and became urbanised. Polybius tells us that Demetrios of Pharos stationed a garrison there during the war. In 219 BCE Dimal fell to Rome after a week’s siege, but was was recaptured by the Macedonians shortly afterwards. After several changes back and forth, the city remained in Roman hands after the Peace of Phoinike in 205. The town’s strategic location clearly made it of military importance, and this is probably the catalyst for its urbanisation over the next two centuries.

Over the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, the town spread beyond the acropolis, and the settlement adapted to the terrain both by terracing and flattening, including on the acropolis itself where a space was made for monumental public buildings to be constructed. In this period, the hill was surrounded by a circuit wall and the lower agora and theatre were built.

The monumental buildings on the acropolis included a temple and a public building which may have been some kind of meeting place or council chamber. Nowadays, it is possible only to make out the foundation of these structures.

Apart from sections of wall here and there, the most visible monument is the apsidal wall on the south side of the acropolis. Made of huge limestone blocks, cut very precisely, it is similar to the apsidal walls seen at Apollonia. The structure was built on top of the earlier fortification wall and it provided the retaining wall for a terrace along the side of the acropolis hill. The area at the back of the wall was filled with rubble and earth to level the ground, and the seven niched wall was at some point flanked by a square tower to the west, the remains of which can also be seen.

Sloping pathway on acropolis 

Some traces remain of the other terraces built on the acropolis, and it also is possible to make out where stoas and other buildings once stood. A stone-lined pathway linking two areas of differing height is also visible. In the saddle of the hill, a wall which may mark the edge of the lower agora is also visible (though partially rebuilt as a retaining wall). The heyday of the city seems therefore to have been during the last two centuries of the Republican period of Rome. There are no signs of continued use into the Imperial period. In fact, the 2014 investigations of the western gate in the city wall showed that it was destroyed by fire in the first century BCE and not later rebuilt or reused. The archaeologists have suggested that this destruction might be linked with the Civil War of 48BCE between Julius Caesar and Pompey, much of which took place in the area of modern Albania, and that Dimal may have lost its strategic importance with the end of the Civil War.

Wall in the lower agora

The settlement revived somewhat in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, when the older structures were robbed for building material and the acropolis was resettled, albeit as a smaller community. The 2013 excavations revealed late antique buildings constructed in two phases over the entire eastern part of the agora and later a simple chapel was built on top of earlier buildings. It has not been possible to ascertain the length of this phase of the settlement.

Two necropolises outside the city walls have been investigated. Burials have yielded rich finds including jewellery, weapons and a large range of vessel types. The graves in the north-west necropolis date to the settlement phase before the Roman conquest and reveal a variety of grave types, and burial offerings, whereas the south-west necropolis, dating to the 2nd/1st century BCE have less variation, perhaps due to the acculturation processes in connection with the Roman conquest. A late antique baptistry has also been excavated outside the city.

I really enjoyed my visit to Dimal, and though there are not many visible remains, the views from the hill are wonderful and the site is covered with brick, tile and sherds. Contemplating the views, it is easy to see why the site was chosen for a fortress and then a settlement. If you plan on visiting, don’t go alone. The site is accessed by a track which is more used to donkeys and the occasional tractor than cars. It is certainly only possible in a 4 by 4 and with an experienced driver. If you would like to go, I recommend giving Dorian Disha a call. He is a licensed guide, very knowledgable, and a lovely person to go exploring with.

How to get there

Call Dorian! +355 69 822 8244

Seriously, I don’t suggest you attempt this without someone who has been there before and who speaks Albanian.

 

Further Reading

M. Heinzelmann, B. Muka, N. Schöndeling, Dimal in Illyrien - Ergebnisse eines deutsch-albanischen Gemeinschaftsprojekts, Kölner und Bonner Archaeologica 2, 2012, 115-128

M. Heinzelmann, B. Muka, Dimal in Illyrien – Vorbericht zur dritten Ausgrabungskampagne 2013,Kölner und Bonner Archaeologica 3, 2013, 167-176

M. Heinzelmann, B. Muka, Vorbericht zur vierten Grabungskampagne 2014 in Dimal (Illyrien), Kölner und Bonner Archaeologica 4, 2014, 109-119

M. Rubini et al., Chi erano gli Illiri? Nuove scoperte in Albania, Archeologia Viva 178, 2016, 58-65