Butrint (Bouthrotos)

Butrint is situated on a low promontory on the southwest coast of Albania, south of the modern city of Saranda and opposite from the Greek island of Corfu. The site has been occupied since at least the 8th century BC, although myths associated with its origins speak of the city's foundation by Trojan exiles.

By the 4th century B.C. a walled settlement was established and the city became a successful cult site, dedicated to Aesclepius. Augustus founded a colony at Butrint and the town seems to have remained a relatively small Roman port until the 6th century A.D. Little is known of the site between the 7th and 9th centuries A.D. Its later medieval history was turbulent as the town was involved first in the power struggles between Byzantium and successive Norman, Angevin and Venetian states and second in the conflict between Venice and the Ottoman Turks. By the early 19th century it had declined to a small fishingvillage clustered around a Venetian castle.

 

Main monuments around Butrint  would definitely include the elegant 4th century B.C. Greek theater with its fine cavea and Roman scaenae frons with a capacity of a. 1500 spectators, the associated Greek sanctuary of Asclepius, immediately to the west of the theater, the line of Roman-period courtyard houses and bath-houses, east of the theater disposed around the forum, the ruins of the Triconch close to the Butrint canal, a large Byzantine baptistery with its intact mosaic pavement dating to the early 6th century A.D., the well-preserved 6th century basilica (refurbished in later medieval times), the ruins of a 2nd century A.D. nymphaeum immediately adjacent to the basilica, and the kilometers of high, imposing walls dating from Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and medieval occupations. 

 

 

 

 

A vast number of other fascinating objects can be seen at the newly refurbished Butrint Museum, while in the National Historic Museum it is possible to see the head of Apollo, unearthed by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Maria Ugolini during his excavations in the 1920?s.

Other than its historical value, Butrint also possesses a wonderful ecosystem. It is positioned in the midst of a veritable ever-green subtropical ?jungle? while laurels and tall trees dominate in the area.