On the Uplands to the North West of the modern city of Durrës (the ancient city of Durrachium), during an intensive survey organized by ICAA and University of Cincinnati in 2001, a new archaeological site on the highest hill of Spitalla was defined. In September – October 2003 the ICAA and Institute of Archaeology excavated the remains of what proved to be an archaic temple with later Hellenistic reconstruction at the end of 4th Century B.C. A significant feature of the excavations was the discovery of a fallen roof consisting of Archaic and Hellenistic tiles. There were also found the stones of foundation, which had the width of 2.20 m. Further clearance of the foundations in 2003 revealed the plan of the temple’s cella (32x12m) and quadratic column basis. It is now clear that these belong to the peripter of the temple. Pottery fragments date to the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, and include black glazed wares. Architectural fragments in soft limestone, including denticulate and other fragments, could belong to the decorative elements of the temple. Most significant finds that represent the decorative elements of this structure, were antefixes with painted red and black floral motifs, from the original Archaic and reconstructed Hellenistic roofs. The structure may have been damaged during an earthquake, perhaps in the 4th Century B.C.

The final season of excavations at the temple of Spitalla served to help explain the last unexcavated area of the temple plan -the north western corner of the cella, which is located close to a military bunker. The cella was constructed using the same limestone blocks and building techniques as the temple’s other foundations. However owing to deep ploughing and other modern interventions it was impossible to trace the inner structures of the temple. A trial trench was pursued to the southern edge of the roof tile scatter, where the receding ground marks the southern line of the temple ruins in the Hellenistic period. The ceramic finds strengthen the idea that this temple, situated as it is in the chora of Durrës, belongs to the Greek extra-urban type of temple, and was built in the Archaic period. This could have been a sanctuary with tutelage deities (still undetermined) which would have begun its existence as a place of contact and exchange between the earliest Greek colonists of Durrës and the local population. Following the excavation, the temple was fully backfilled in order to protect it.