With a lovely setting on a plateau in the middle of the Drinos valley, the ancient city of Antigonea probably was founded by King Pzrrhus around 300 BCE, and destroyed 200 years later at the orders of the Romans. The ruins scattered across the fields here hint at the former power of this large trading city, that was only formally identified to be Antigonea after excavations in the 1970s. Rambling around the large site you'll see the remains of the road system with some drainage still in place, the central agora marketplace, a 70-metre long covered stoa arcade, housing quarters and an early Christian basilica from the 6th century with a floor mosaic - bilingual signs helpfully explain what has been discovered by archeologists. The site lies just south of Saraqinisht village, 14km east of Gjirokastra. If the ticket office by the car park is closed, you can still enter.
