(Jul. 25) - The ancient Roman city, its theater and thermal baths, known as Hadrianopolis is in Albania, where all new findings have an Italian "touch." The archaeological investigations conducted at Hadrianopolis and in the Drino Valley has entered into its 10th year of activity. The team is composed of Macerata University researchers led by Professor Roberto Perna, and of the Albanian Archaeological Institute, directed by Dhimiter Çondi, with the collaboration of the Italian Honorary Consulate in Gjirokastra. In addition to Macerata students, this year a team from Oxford University led by Milena Melfi will participate in the mission. The main objective of the research - says the University of Macerata - is to continue excavations within the Roman city, of which we now know the perimeter, and to conclude our study of the theater (of which we completely restored the pavement of the orchestra). We also want to continue exploring the large Roman baths. The archaeological mission is part of a larger project to develop and manage, called "Rebed," whose goal is to contribute to sustainable development through knowledge of the Albanian territory, and to protect and enhance the cultural heritage of the Roman city of Hadrianopolis and Valle del Drino.

THE REBED PROJECT: THE LINK BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT
"Rebed" is a complex project, based not only on archaeological missions, but on the development of an integral, multidisciplinary and transnational approach. It involves the University of Macerata, the region of Gjirokastra, the National Directorate of Cultural Heritage in Tirana, the Regional Directorate of Cultural Heritage of Gjirokaster, Gjirokaster University, the Gjirokaster Horizont Association, the provinces of Ascoli Piceno and Macerata, the City of Urbisaglia, the University of Camerino, Marche Legambiente, the Arena Spheristerion Association, and the Museum System of the province of Macerata. A significant part of the mission will be devoted to the completion of the "Rebed" project in 2014, through the implementation of a management plan for the archaeological park, the continuation of the civil protection plan for the cultural heritage system of downstream Drino, and, above all, the realization of pads using drones along the main sites of the Drino valley, near Hadrianopolis, Frashtan and Jergucat.