2. Arch of Galerius / Kamara
Egnatia & Dimitriou Gounari
298-305

The Arch of Galerius is a triumphal arch that was built to celebrate the victory of Galerius over the Sassanid Persians led by Shah Narseh at the Battle of Satala in 298.

The arch stood at the junction of two major axes of the city. It spanned the Via Regia – the decumanus maximus of the city and a portion of the much larger Via Egnatia, which connected Dyrrachium (today Durrës in Albania) with Byzantium (later Constantinople). The crossing axis was the processional way connecting the Palace of Galerius in the south with the Rotunda in the north. There were porticoes to the north, east and west of the arch.

The arch consisted of eight piers arranged in two parallel rows, with four piers in each row and three arched openings between them. The four central piers were larger than the outer one, and the central opening was wider than the ones on the sides. The central piers were connected by semicircular arches that supported a dome. Today, only three northwestern piers survive, with parts of the masonry of the arches above.