6th Century Column Capital found During TAP Construction

TIRANA, July 29
A column capital was found in Skrapar area, southern Albania, during the work on road enlargement for the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The work in Zogas-Potom section of the road was stopped immediately after the object was found. The column capital was temporarily sent to safe premises in TAP’s offices in Corovoda until the arrival of specialists from the Regional Directorate of National Culture in Berat. They kept a record and transferred and the object was transferred to Berat.
According to the record, the object was described as a part of a monument, probably of a religious nature or a church dating to the sixth Century AC. The column capital is 0.40 cm high and the outside diameter of its base is 0.24 cm. The base has preserved a center carved hole, which served to fit with the column body. The top of the capital has a rectangular shape, typical for supporting the abacus. The capital is made of good quality limestone and the body is decorated with vertical lines and eight repeated floral images. The size and shape of the capital column suggest resemblances to most of the paleo-Christian monuments in Albania.
According to TAP’s expert on cultural heritage, it is important to highlight the fact that the object wasn’t found in-situ. TAP specialists confirmed that no other objects were found in the area.
News Source/ Photo Credit: TAP