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Antigonea was an ancient Greek city in Chaonia, Epirus, and the chief inland city of the ancient Chaonians. It was founded in the 3rd century BC by Pyrrhus of Epirus, who named it after one of his wives, Antigone, daughter of Berenice I and step-daughter of Ptolemy I of Egypt.
'The straits near Antigoneia' were mentioned in 230 BC, when a force of Illyrians under Scerdilaidas passed the city to join an invading army further south. In 198 BC, during the Second Macedonian War, the Romans marched against the Macedonian armies of Philip V. His general, Athenagoras, was able to occupy one of the nearby passes, leading to the Romans being held back. Initially the Romans were going to negotiate peace, however, several treasonous sheperds led the Romans to be able to surround and destroy the Macedonian army of 2000 men.
The inhabitants of Antigoneia had sided with the Macedonians and so when the Romans were victorious over the Macedonians in 167 BC. Thus, the Romans decided to punish those who had fought against them. Consul Aemilius Paullus ordered for 70 towns in Epirus to be lit on fire. This included Antigoneia, which was never rebuilt. Antigonia is mentioned by the ancient authors
A newly discovered church, on the floor of which there is a mosaic of Saint Christopher and a Greek emblem, testifying to the city’s existence in the palaeo-Christian period. However it seemed to be the last building constructed in ancient Antigonea, the church was destroyed during Slav assaults in the 6th century AD.
Finds such as a bronze sphinx and a statue of Poseidon, which are exhibited in Tirana. There has also been evidence of pottery found across the hill in which the city was built, attesting to the size of the city at its peak.
The most impressive feature of the city are its walls, demolished by the Romans, which completely encircled the hill, which towered at 600 meters above sea level. The most visible gate in the walls is at the south-western portion of the city. In the city center, an entire ancient street is exposed. In the southern end of the city there is also the most well preserved portion of the city walls. The wall section terminates at the small early Christian church of triconch form, whose mosaic floor is decorated with a depiction of a strange illustration of a human with an animal head, resembling the Egyptian god Anubis or Saint Christopher.
References:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.