Photo: Martin Lemke
The city of Bassania in Albania is no longer a legend.
There is always more to be discovered. Maybe just under our feet.
That is what some archaeologists found not long ago in Albania.
As Christina Ayele Djossa writes at Atlas Obscura, “Sometimes, rocks are more than crumbled pieces of the earth. Sometimes, they unveil clues about our planet’s ancient past or future. For archaeologists from the Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre at the University of Warsaw, the rocks in Shkodër, Albania, turned out to be the ruins of the 2,000-year-old lost city of Bassania.
“Back then, Bassania was an economic and military stronghold, part of the Illyrian kingdom, which existed from 400 to 100 B.C. The ancient city contained numerous settlements and fortresses, one of which the archaeologists unearthed.
“What they found were ancient stones of a fortress guarded with large bastions and roughly 10-foot-wide stonewalls and gates. These defensive buildings, according to University of Warsaw professor Piotr Dyczek, are common in Hellenistic architecture. The team confirmed the age of the ruins by analyzing nearby coins and ceramic vessel fragments, which dated back to the time of the Illyrian kingdom. …
“But this city, and the Illyrian kingdom, ultimately fell to a Roman invasion in the beginning of the first century. This may be why it took so long for archaeologists to find Bassania. … The Polish and Albanian archaeologists also speculate that the location’s geological infrastructure has something to do with it. The ruins are found on a ‘hill locally called “lips of viper” in [the village of] Bushat, a few miles from Shkodër,’ wrote Dyczek. After years of erosion, the stone remnants look like a part of the sandstones and conglomerates that make up the hill. So to a passerby, it might look like a bunch of stones, not a structure made by humans.”
Now I want to know why any hill would be called “lips of viper.” Always more discoveries to be made.
More at Atlas Obscura, here.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Love it when they find ruins like this! Maybe there were lots of vipers in that area ?!They do have them over there.
Yes, it’s probably a simple explanation like that. Brave to go there — I’d want to steer clear of a place known for vipers!
That would make two of us!
This is cool. And I just read about how the drought in Ireland revealed what they think is evidence of another structure in Brú na Bóinne, as well as a new passage tomb!
Good to know. I’ll include a link for people: http://www.worldheritageireland.ie.