Heritage alarm over Via Egnatia in Albania

TIRANA, Sept 6 (TemA) – Albanian heritage scholar Auron Tare urged Prime Minister Edi Rama to halt works he says are damaging cultural monuments, warning of a “massacre” of national heritage and reputational harm abroad.

Tare singled out interventions on the Via Egnatia—the Roman road that once linked the Adriatic to Thessaloniki and Constantinople—arguing that ad-hoc “restorations” risk burying millennia-old fabric under new asphalt. He contrasted Albania’s approach with protection efforts in Greece and North Macedonia.

He said weakened state heritage institutions and the use of contractors or NGOs without the right capacity are causing irreversible losses. Tare called for urgent central oversight to stop ongoing works and align standards with European practice.