Early history The coastal area of Vlorë was one of those
Illyrian sites that had experienced pre-urban activity beginning from the 11th–10th centuries BC. During the period of
Euboean colonization of the area (early 8th century BC) the bay of Vlorë was associated with several Heroic traditions and the foundation of several settlements there, as the toponym Aulon suggest which is also known in local Eubean toponimity. Due to its strategic position on the
Adriatic Sea, especially the
Bay of Vlorë, which forms a natural harbor, Vlorë occupied a significant place in
classical antiquity as a base for trade by many peoples. Vlorë is considered one of the oldest cities in
Albania and the region. In the
Archaic era, the area was
colonized by
Ancient Greeks, who are traditionally believed to have founded Orikos, Thronion and Aulon on these shores. A large fortified port-town that was inhabited from the 6th century BC to the 2nd century AD is placed, now partially submerged, in
Triport, northwest of present-day Vlorë. It was delimited by three walls, the first of which dating back to the late 6th century BC. The port activity in this site lasted from at least the
archaic period to the
medieval period. It has been suggested that a transfer of the ancient city from the site of Triport to the site of modern Vlorë occurred. The center of the modern city features walls dating from the 4th to the 10th centuries AD, as well as a wall, a quadrangular tower and ruins of a huse with ceramics dating back to the 3rd–4th centuries and to the 6th-7th centuries. The archaeological site of Triport has been identified with ancient
Thronion or
Aulon.
Thronion was attested by
Pausanias (2nd century AD) as a
Locrian–
Euboean colony, but also by a dedication on a monument erected in
Olympia, both accounts reporting that
Apollonia conquered the city around 450 BC.
Aulon, from which Vlorë took its name, was mentioned for the first time by
Ptolemy (2nd century AD) among the towns of the
Illyrian Taulantii.
Carl Patsch proposed the first location of
Aulon in Triport being then transferred to the current location of Vlora, and
Pierre Cabanes proposed the location of
Thronion in Triport; those identifications are not in contradiction with each other. Other geographical documents, such as the
Tabula Peutingeriana and
Hierocles'
Synecdemus, also mention Aulon. The city served as an important port of the
Roman Empire, when it was part of
Epirus Nova. Aulon (
Avlona) became an
episcopal see in the 5th century. Among the known bishops are
Nazarius in 458 and
Soter in 553 (
Daniele Farlati,
Illyricum sacrum, VII, 397–401). The diocese at that time belonged to the papal
Pentarchy. In 733, it was annexed with the eastern
Illyricum, to the
Patriarchate of Constantinople, and yet it is not mentioned in any
Notitiae Episcopatuum of that Church. The bishopric had probably been suppressed for though the Bulgarians had been in possession of this country for some time, Avlona is not mentioned in the "Notitiae episcopatuum" of the
Bulgarian Archbishopric of Ohrid. During the Roman period, a
Latin see was established and Eubel (
Hierarchia catholica medii aevi, I, 124) mentions several of its bishops. Aulon, no longer being a residential bishopric, is today listed by the
Catholic Church as a
titular see, a
suffragan bishop of
Durrës, being distinguished from a Greek titular see called Aulon by the use for it of the adjective
Aulonitanus, while the adjective regarding the Aulon in
Euboea (Ionian
Greece) is
Aulonensis. The diocese was nominally restored as Latin
titular bishopric Aulon, or Valona in Curiate Italian; from 1925 it was (als) named Aulona in Latin and/or Italian, since 1933 it's only Aulon in Latin, Aulona in Italian. It was a bishopric from the fifth century until Bulgarian rule.
Middle Ages In the 11th and 12th century, Vlorë played an instrumental role in the conflicts between the
Byzantine Empire and
Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Following Norman occupation, they ruled for only four years and established a Latin church episcopal see in Vlorë. In 1321 the city being under Byzantine control was attacked by a Venetian fleet under Giovanni Michiel as a result costing the lives of many of its Greek inhabitants. Vlorë served as capital of the
Principality of Valona, initially a vassal state to the
Serbian empire, and later, independent Christian state from 1346 to 1417. The
Ottoman Empire captured the city in 1417, while in 1432, Albanian rebels freed Vlorë and expelled the Ottomans from the area. As part of the
Ottoman Empire, Vlorë became a
sanjak centre in
Rumelia Eyalet under the name
Avlonya. Later it become a Venetian possession in 1690 and the city was restored to the Ottomans in 1691, becoming a
kaza of the
Sanjak of Avlona in the
vilayet (province) of
Janina. At the time the city had about 10,000 inhabitants; there was a Catholic parish, which belonged to the
Archdiocese of Durrës. During the early period of Ottoman rule, Vlorë became an international port centered on a high volume of trade between
western Europe and the Ottoman state. In 1426, the Ottomans supported the settlement of a
Jewish community involved in mercantile activities. Following the
expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, the Ottoman state resettled additional Jewish exiles in Vlorë toward the end of the fifteenth century. In 1851, it suffered severely from an earthquake. The
Jewish community of Yanina renewed the Jewish community of Vlorë in the nineteenth century. On November 28, 1912,
Ismail Qemali head the
Albanian Declaration of Independence in Vlorë, during the
First Balkan War. The city became Albania's first capital following its independence. The
1914 Vlorë Raid took place that January, and was a short-lived plot to regain Albania under Ottoman control. The city was
invaded by Italy in 1914 during
World War I. The city remained occupied by Italian forces until an
Albanian rebellion forced the Italians out of
Albania in 1920. Italy
invaded Vlorë again in 1939. The city remained under Italian occupation until Italy surrendered to the allies in 1943. Subsequently,
Nazi Germany occupied the city until 1944. The city was liberated in 1944 by
communist forces under
Enver Hoxha.
Communist Albania During
World War II,
Sazan Island became the site of a German and Italian
submarine base and naval installations; these installations were heavily bombed by the
Allies. After World War II, with Albania ruled by a
Communist Party, the port was leased out to the
Soviet Union for use as a submarine base. During 1960 and 1961 it served as a theater in the aftermath of the decision of
Enver Hoxha to denounce
Nikita Khrushchev's reforms. In April 1961 the Soviet Union, resenting being pushed out after considerable investment in the naval facilities at nearby
Pasha Liman Base, threatened to occupy Vlora with Soviet troops, and cut off all Soviet economic, military and technical aid to Albania. The threat was not carried out, as a result of the simultaneous international developments; most notably the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Hoxha, realizing the vulnerability of Albania after the 1968
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, ordered the construction of
hundreds of thousands of concrete bunkers. Under Hoxha, Vlorë served as an important recruiting centre for the
Sigurimi; the Albanian
state security,
intelligence and
secret police service. In 1997, Vlorë was the center of the
1997 Albanian civil unrest after the collapse of several investment scams that led to the downfall of the
Sali Berisha administration. == Geography ==