The excavation of this year revealed a quarter of the medieval city of Durrёs with streets, houses, yards, wells, cisterns and chapels. This quarter was built on the ruins of the ancient amphitheatre of Dyrrachium. During this long season was excavated an area of 300 m2 reaching to the depth of 2.40 m. The excavations revealed new results regarding an important phase of the city. A new chapel was revealed which was positioned on the opposite side of the chapel excavated in the previous seasons. The chapel was decorated with mural byzantine paintings. There were also revealed wall fragments, streets and pottery objects which illustrated the reuse of ancient structures of the amphitheatre. The pottery revealed indicates intensive economical exchanges with Byzantine Empire, Eastern Mediterranean and Italy. These relations were interrupted after the Ottoman occupation. At this period the area was abandoned as it is shown by the demolition of amphitheatre structure.

The 6 weeks of excavations (25th of July – 5th of August) undertaken in the Roman amphitheatre of the ancient city of Durrës, brought new data on the dramatic consequences of the earthquake of the year 1273, which destroyed the monument, at this time transformed into a habitation area, as well as the entire city. Among the fallen limestone blocks of the amphitheatre, the excavations revealed traces of a palace built of solid masonry which was located in the area occupied previously by the magnificent Roman monument to show the power and status of the inhabitants, and guarantee their protection. It was a palace in the arena (_palatium in arena_), built at the end of the Antiquity, like that at Parma, or the few other examples of Mediterranean cities. The excavation in the area of the palace, apart from the large number of ceramic wares, revealed a pottery bottle decorated with medieval painting, where a bronze and silver coin hoard was preserved. This year’s excavation expanded the surface area (app. 1000 m2 and 2, 40 m deep), aiming at the finalization of the constructive geometry, and the delineation and the understanding of the transformation and abandonment phases of the palace. The excavations revealed the large gallery of the southern side, which was also the main entrance to the arena and 6 of the radial rows of the _cavea _ of the Roman amphitheatre. Apart from the excavations, the other micro-gravity, geo-seismic and geo-radar researches brought new data on the unexposed ancient and medieval structures.

This year marked the fourth archaeological season undertaken in the Roman amphitheatre of Durrës by the joint Italian-Albanian team. The archaeological data revealed until now confirm once again the dramatic consequences of the earthquake of the year 1273, which caused the destruction of numerous buildings and a large number of deaths among the inhabitants of the city. This latter is confirmed by the discovery of 4 dead individuals (a man, a woman, an infant and a young boy) in the ruins of the palace built at the beginning of the 12th century, ion the south side of the previously destroyed Roman amphitheatre. Underneath the ruins of the medieval palace, the excavations revealed other walls, belonging to an earlier 9th – 10th century AD building; several graves of the 5-6th century AD., associated with materials goods decorated with Christian symbols, were found in the arches and the stairs of the amphitheatre. The revealed data show the transformation of the amphitheatre into a habitation quarter of the Byzantine city, going through an abandonment phase, a funerary and religious occupation, and a reoccupation of residential and commercial character. In the stratigraphic layer associated with these occupation phases, the excavations uncovered numerous ceramic materials, coins, metal objects, including a necklace worn by one of the earthquakes victims. The isotope analyzes of the human skeletons and the remains of animal bones revealed during the excavations will bring important information on diet and health conditions of the ancient inhabitants of the city of Durrës. In addition, the application of modern technologies, such as the micro-gravimetry, geo-seismic, geo-radar, thermoluminescence study of glass and pottery materials, radiocarbon dating, petrographic and geoarchaeological investigations, will bring new information on the history of this complex and multi- phased settlement.

The fifth season of archaeological excavations undertaken in the amphitheatre of Durrës by a joint Albanian-Italian team took place between the 21 of July and the 8th of August 2008. The aim of this season was to expand and deepen the excavations in the southern sector, in order to understand the structures of the amphitheatre and the arrangements made during the Late Roman and Early Medieval periods. Also, it was intended to continue the excavations in the sondages opened in the northern and southern gallery of the amphitheatre down to the lower level of the foundations. The excavations in the southern sector (C2, C3 and D), identified a stratigraphic sequence that, at the lowest level reached so far, contained a layer of demolished walls and pottery materials of the Late Roman period. Several graves were uncovered in this layer, suggesting the abandonment of the amphitheatre at this time, and the use of cavea and arena as a cemetery. This level was covered by a thick soil layer of dark brown colour, where the excavations revealed pottery fragments (mainly cooking vessels) of the Early Medieval period, and foundation traces of reused stones of the amphitheatre’s structures bonded with scarce mortar, which are perhaps part of the domestic structures of this period. The upper layer was another occupation level of building remains and rich pottery materials (various typologies of local wares and imported glazed pottery) of the 10-13th century AD. The latest layer contained destroyed wall ruins and human skeletons of all ages, which are probably related to the dramatic earthquake of the year 1273. The excavations carried out in the large gallery of the southern side of the amphitheatre, revealed ruined walls, which are probably arrangements of the medieval periods, perhaps destroyed due to the earthquake. A medieval house was uncovered in the gallery, built probably of reused materials of the amphitheatre, and as suggested by the pottery found in the foundations levels, dates at the beginning of the 12th century AD. In the entrance of the gallery, the excavations revealed a fill layer of compounded materials and ruined wall that were probably constructed there after the final abandonment of the amphitheatre, at the end of the Late Roman period.

During the year 2018 the excavations in the amphitheater of Durrës were focused on its southern part and the aim was to understand this area, as well as the transformations that occurred in the structures placed in this space. Only one excavation sector was opened which was called sector α. At the end of the excavation, was identified the presence of a quadrangular building, 4.20m wide and of undetermined length, due to the absence of the fourth wall. The walls are formed by two faces built with medium-sized stones, and bound with abundant lime mortar. The building apparently belongs to the medieval period and its destruction is thought to have occurred during the late phase of this period. Next to the building, two others walls were discovered, probably from the Ottoman period, which are thought to have served as terrace walls in connection with an open space (perhaps a courtyard?). The excavation also showed the presence of a well, whose diameter is about 1.50m and whose main wall was made with stone blocks. Based on the stratigraphic interpretations, the well is thought to belong to an earlier phase compared with the aforementioned walls. An exact chronology of its use remains difficult to determine due to the significant interventions suffered by the constructions of the modern periods. The material that came out during the excavation, mainly consists of ceramics of different types and shapes, metal objects and very few glass objects.

During 2019, in addition to the expansion of the sector α, excavations were also focused on a new sector, which was named sector β. In the first sector, the filling of the well was excavated. During the excavation the presence of many ceramic materials as well as some metal objects was noted. Due to the obstacles caused by its presence in the progress of the excavation, a part of the well was dismantled. All the material from the emptying of the well is thought to belong to the Ottoman period. As for the building discovered during the 2018 excavations, this year's excavation reveals a restructuring of this building throughout the XV - XVI century. For this reason we have the construction of a wall in the South-Western part that reduced this structure. The wall is built of stone blocks of various sizes bound with abundant lime mortar. Another intervention is related to the opening of an entrance on the north side of the building, evidenced by the presence of a brick threshold. In sector β, was discovered a wall that divide gallery VIII and IX, as well as a part of the entrance of the gallery VII excavated in the years 2000. The dividing wall ran North-West/South-East and in terms of construction technique it was the same as the other walls discovered in this sector. The material recovered during the excavation was numerous, but of course ceramics dominated, whereas metal objects and other materials were less present. Based on the reading of the stratigraphy, but also on the dating of the material from the excavation, we can say that during the last period of the XVth century and until the XVIth and XVIIth centuries this area of the amphitheater has undergone an important restructuring.