Antic city of Butrint

Butrint, ancient Buthrotum, lies in south-west Albania, 20 km south of the modern port of Saranda. Its location is spectacular: the ancient city occupies a bluff of land protruding into the Vivari channel, a stretch of water which today connects the Straits of Corfu, 4 km west of Butrint, to the inland salt-water Lake Butrint.
South of the channel lies a flat reclaimed plain, today drained by dykes, which effectively separates Butrint from the range of mountains that run along Albania's southern frontier with Greece.

The history of Butrint Butrint was probably settled in the 8th century B.C. by Corfiot traders; this was almost certainly the town associated with the legend of Aeneas. By the 4th century, Butrint was a Chaoanian port, probably at the centre of one of the epiriote tribes of Epirus.

The Romans used the port as a supply base for military campaigns in the Balkans in the 2nd century. The following century it became a colony for the veterans under Julius Caesar.
By later roman times, it had its own bishop, and was evidently a place that was once again expanding. It then suffered attack by the Goths in 551. Its subsequent history until the tenth century, as in the case of many Mediterranean ports, remains a mystery.

Thereafter, it emerged a major port-of-call on the Adriatic route from Venice to Byzantium. For much of the later Middle Ages it was in Venetian hands, defending the eastern flank of the Straits of Corfu. Only in the eighteenth century did they abandon Butrint in the face of the Turks.

By the 1850's, though, when Edward Lear passed this way, it was deserted.Butrint remained overlooked until the 1920's, when an Italian mission led by Luigi Ugolini was despatched to Albania.
In 1924 Ugolini chose the Illyrian hilltop site, the Phoinike, 20 miles north of Butrint, for his first campaigns. This proved to be less promising than Ugolini imagined, so in 1928, in the hope of discovering the archaeology of the age of Aeneas, which might then be directly linked for propaganda purposes to Rome, he began work at Butrint.

At that time Butrint was a largely bare hill in a deserted landscape. Within three months Ugolini had unearthed great stretches of the Greek polygonal walling around the acropolis including several fine gates.

His largest excavations, however, were on the south-facing flank of the hilltop where he discovered the theatre. The 4th century theatre, with its well preserved seating and cavea, produced a sensation when a line of statues including the "goddess of Butrint" and a fine head of Apollo were discovered.
Working on a huge scale, Ugolini unearthed the Temple of Asclepulus beside the theatre, a fine Roman bathblock in front of it, parts of an Early Byzantine palace by the Vivari canal, an extraordinarily well-preserved Early Byzantine baptistry with a perfectly preserved later fifth-century mosaic pavement and many other monuments.
Mugolini worked with a fervour until his early death in 1936 from malaria. The new campaign the new excavations supported by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and the Butrint Foundation aims to develop Butrint from two points of view.
First, as most of the previous archaeological investigations has been concentrated upon the ancient levels, Byzantine Butrint remains largely unknown. The main objective of the new campaign is to chart the topographical historyof this period.

In particular, it is important to establish the 6th to 10th century A.D. phases: to examine how this important port fared as the Mediterranean commercial systems collapsed.

The second aim of the new campaign of research at Butrint is to promote this remarkable site (and its context) in such a way that it attracts a steady flow of tourists which in turn provide a source of income for the region.
Through careful heritage management, the Butrint Foundation also aims to help protect this site and its region. Excavations and surveys in 1994-95 have been limited in their scope.

A phase of assessment has taken place in order to develop the project successfully. These new surveys indicate that throughout its history the port of Butrint was dominated by its environmental circumstances.

It seems likely that in later Bronze Age and early Greek times, when the hilltop (the acropolis) was the centre of the ettlement, Butrint was a seabord town.
The sea would appear to have extended far inland beyond the northern extent of the present Lake Butrint. At that time it is likely that Butrint's commercial port lay in the sheltered bay on the north side of the hill.

Coming by land, visitors would have approached Butrint down the narrow coastal peninsula. But by Roman times much of the low-lying ground which now separates Butrint from the Straits of Corfu had been reclaimed.

History: The settlement of Lake Butrint lies on the outlet of a small river,about 4km from the sea. The lake,streching about 8km from north to the south, and 3km east to west, is navigable 5km from its outlet.
The Vivari channel to the south is open to the sea. In Classical mythology, wat was known as Buthrotum was supposed to have been founded by settlers from Troy.

It was referred to by Virgil (Aeneid.Book 3 page 292-293):
'Soon were the lofty peaks of Corcyra lost to view; We(e.g. Aeneas and his companions) coasted along Epirus , and coming to the Chaonian Harbour ,we drew near Buthrothum, that hillcity.'

The ancient legend ,revived by Teucer of Cyzicus, claims that having arrived at this site from Troy , Priam's son Helenus sacrificed an ox to ensure his safe entry to Epirus.
The wounded ox plunged into the sea , swam into a bay and then walked onto a beach where it fell and died. Helenus took this as an omen and he called the place Buthrotos, meaning 'the wounded ox'.

According to Virgil , Helenus was already established there , married to Andromache before Aeneas arrived. The events in the French classical tragedy Andromache , by Racine take place at Butrint.

In reality the area was certainly inhabited from the earliest times. Excavation has revealed Neolithic settlement, based on fishing probably similar to those of Maliq , near Korçe.
These perceptions are likely to be reinforced by the very recent Neolithic discoveries (September 1992) of American archaeologists in a cave between Butrint and Konispol , 21km south, near the border with Greece.

After the Neolithic era, the area was a major centre of Illyrian settlement. An Epirote tribe called the Prassaiboi lived in the region. A substancial city and fortress was established as early as the late 7C BC.
The top of the hill was circled by large blocks of unhewn stone.This was followed by colonisation from Corfu in the 6C BC. The precise extent of Greek and Illyrian influence in the foundation of the city is an academically controversial matter.
The Greek colony was under the ultimate control of Corinth and was mentioned by the Greek geographer Hecataeus in the 5C as an Illyrian Polis (Illyrian City).

In the 4C BC the city was growing rapidly and the first promenade and temple were built . It soon became part of the kongdom of Epirus , and was governed by a Counsil of all free citizens, the ecclesia.

It became an important Roman town after the conquest and the break up of the Epirote League , and it was spared the destruction meted out to most of the 70 other cities of Epirus.
In this periode , it increasingly overshadowed Phonike. In the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus it was a naval station and grain depot for Caesar´s army.

About 10 BC the main aqueduct, bringing water to the city from the Xara springs was built. The aqueduct was about 3km long and is depicted on Roman coins dating from the time of Augustus and Nero.

Butrint is mentioned frequently in the letters of Cicero , who, in a leter to Atticus, compared it with antium . In the 4C the city walls were rebuilt , which by then enclosed a substancial town covering 11 hectares with a theatre, market buildings and temples.
The activity is thought to be linked to the interest of the Emperor Julian the Apostate in Epirus. Christianity was established at Butrint at very early stage.

The first bishop of the town was consecrated in 451, linked to that in Nikopolis, and Christian buildings dating from the late 5C have been excavated. The city successfully resisted the Ostrogoths who occupied Corfu in 551.

Urban settlement continued between late antiquity and the conquest of Butrint by the Norman, Manfred of Sicily, in 1081. It is mentioned as a city in the chronicles of George the Cipriot and later by Arsen of Corfu (876-953).
The latter praised the fertility of the soil, local fruit trees and the mussels of the lake. In 1084 the town was plundered by Normans and partly burnt down.

About that middle of the century it was mentioned in the guide for medieval merchants written by the Arab chronicler, Al Idriz, as a prosperous small city with a market and many shops.

In 1204 it became part of the Despotate of Epirus. A separate fortress, away from the central acropolis , was built in this period.
Further fortifications were built by Venetians, who maintained an important naval station at the mouth of the river for over three hunderd years. It was taken by the Turks and then by Ali Pasha Tepelena.

The latter constructed a fort by the river estuary mouth. It was occupied briefly by the French under the Treaty of Campo Formio in 1979, during the Napoleonic wars.

Butrint,Things to See
Butrint city is large and complex, with ruins from many different periods, and for the non-archaeologist or non-specialist student of the site , the easiest route on a first visit is to keep as close as possible to the perimeter.

Walk around the walls and see the way town and fortress developed as an island stronghold , and than to proceed towards the centre to see the finest of the ancient buildings.
Enter the site through a gate ,where a small charge is sometimes payable. Turning right from the entrance gate , you follow the perimeter path past the ruins of a Roman bath and a Venetian tower , then a section of wall dating from the 4C AD.

After about another 400m, you come to the remains of an early Christian cult centre , and then a bath formed in the shape of a cross, which may have been part of a medieval church.
On the right there is a very fine view over the broadening channel leading back to the lake. You next follow a long section of outer wall , also from late antiquity, then walk through wooded glades towards the north end of the island.

On the left, as the end of the path is approached, there are walls from a medieval chapel , near the point where interconnecting walls of the outer fortifications join. The inner wall dates from the 3C BC.

Turning left and following the path by the most northely point of the island, much older Illyrian walls begin, dating from the 4C and 5C BC, built of Cyclopean-scale blocs.
The original walls are thought to have been about 9m high here. On the right, there are very beautiful views across the lake, with a rich variety of birdlife.

The area used to be famous for hunting, particulary of snipe , and butrint is occasionally mentioned in 19C British sportmen´s memoirs in this context. Hunters based in Corfu used to make day trips for shooting in the Butrint marshes.

This path leads to the south-west, around the edge of the island, from a tower. After a couple of minutes´ walk, you will find a gatehouse in the walls and an ancient warehouse, later used as an early Christian burial place.
Below the gatehouse is a well brides used to draw lustral water, the Well of Nymphs. A Greek inscription indicating the use of the well can be seen on the wall. It reads: ´Junia Rufina, friends of nymphs´.

Several different phases of construction of the well have been isolated, the earliest in the 4C BC. It assumed its final form in the 1C BC, when it was covered with a domed roof and decorated with paintings, one showing two peacocks and a parrot.

The nearby gate entrance has a finely carved stone lintel showing a lion devouring an ox. The size and strength of the Illyrian masonry at the lower levels is comparable in the impression created at the great Mycenaean sites of Greece, such as Tiryns and Mycenae.
Unusually, towers do not play much part in the Illyrian defences of the city. Although the perimeter walk can be continued here to return to the entrance gate, this is a convenient point to enter the inner fortress.

Across from the trees and scrub is the base of the acropolis, with the oldest fortification walls, dating from the 6C BC.

This end of the acropolis is accessible, with an early Christian church in the centre, among the trees . It is the oldest Christian building in Butrint .
In design it appears to be similar to other churches in Albania found at Elbasan, Phoinike and Byllis, with an arched roof and mosaic floors. It dates from the firsts half of the 4C.

In the medieval period it was rebuilt, with the addition of a small chapel on the south side. The far end of the acropolis, where Venetian and Turkish cannon remain in position on the walls, is laid out as gardens around the central fort.

Cross the acropolis and climb down towards the central complex of ancient buildings and join the central path through them. They are enclosed within the perimeter wall dating from the 3C BC.
From the path, walking westwards towards the site entrance, you will find the remains of a large Roman house, dating from the 2C AD .

Its centre was an open courtyard paved with flagstones, around which 12 stone columns rose from a plinth. Next to the stoa is a finely preserved Roman theatre, rising against the rocky outcrop of the acropolis.
The 22 rows of seats would have accommodated about 2000 people. The audience reached the seats by means of six radiating flights of steps.
The steep incline forced the builders to support the sides of the seating with transverse walls, supported by two lateral walls, giving the theatre a quadrangular form unusual at the time.

Entry to the building was made by a corridor on each side. At the beginning of the 2C the orchestra pit and the stage were reconstructed. A number of statues were found in Butrint during excavations.
Some of statues that were found are , two animal statues, a head of Agrippa, Augustus´s general, and most important of all, the finest Classical statue found in Albania, the so-called ´Goddes of Butrint´, now exhibited in Tirana in the National Historical Museum.
They stood in six marble niches. Above the theatre was a 2C BC temple which was built simultaneously with the theatre and integrated into its foundations. Inside there is a foundation where the altar stood, and a stylobate in the east corner.

In the 1C BC the floor was covered with a black and white mosaic made in geometrical patterns.

The 22rows of seats would have accompanied about 2000 people. The audience reached the seats by means of six radiating flights of steps.
The steep incline forced the builders to support the sides of the seating with transverse walls, supported by two lateral walls, giving the theatre a quadrangular form unusual at the time.

Entry to the building was made by a corridor on each side. At the beginning of the 2C the orchestra pit and the stagewere reconstructed. A number of statues were found in Butrint during excavations.
Some of statues that were found are , two animal statues, a head of Agrippa, Augustus´s general, and most important of all, the finest Classical statue found in Albania, the so-called ´Goddes of Butrint´, now exhibited in Tirana in the National Historical Museum.
They stood in six marble niches. Above the theatre was a 2C BC temple which was built simultaneously with the theatre and integrated into its foundations. Inside there is a foundation where the altar stood, and a stylobate in the east corner.

In the 1C BC the floor was covered with a black and white mosaic made in geometrical patterns
South of the theatre are the remains of baths, dating from the 2C BC, four rooms, heated by under-floor conduits, and associated buildings.
On the opposite side of the theatre to the stoa, below it, are the remains of the Temple of Asklepios. This temple was constructed in the 3C BC, and rebuilt in the 2C.

Many small marble statues and votive offerings were found here, and are now exhibited in the museum. It is thought to have been fed from water flowing from a cave behind the theatre which was belived to have curative properties.
Inscriptions found indicate that Asklepios was thought to be the protective god of the city. The temple was covered with an arched roof.
The walls of both the naos, the sacred area, and the vestibule were covered with plaster and painted with frescoes. The front entrance was flanked by two windows . It was reconstructed using similar building techniques to the theatre.

The finest building on the site is the Early Christian Baptistry, one of the most important and best preserved paleo-Christian monuments in the whole Adriatic region.

This is reached by another path through the trees and undergrowth, not very easy to find , east from the theatre, across the 3C walls. Nearby are the remains of a very large late Roman bathing establishment, the size of which illustrates the prosperity and importance of Butrint in that period.
A votive inscription dedicated to Zeus Cassios, the god protecting mariners, has been found inside it, indicating the importance of Butrint as an ancient port.

The baptistry floor has very fine mosaics showing wild animals, which have been recently cleaned and restored. Their style resembles others found in Epirus, at Nikopolis in particular, and would suggest a construction date in the first half of the 6C.
In the centre of the mosaic is the tree of the Eucharist, a vase with a bunch of grapes, two small birds and two peacoks above them. Sixteen smooth granite columns support wat would probably have been a wooden roof.
Some archaeologist consider the baptistry is built on the site and used the structure of an earlier Roman bath building, within a town house, judging by the way the circular baptistry is laid out within square external walls, and from other archaeological evidence.

It consists of a chamber on the north side and the main baptistry at the centre of which is the baptismal font from which eight lines radiate.

The whole chamber is made up of three concentric circles. The visitor cannot fail to be impressed by the beauty and tranquility of the place, where the natural surroundings so complement the beauty of the remains.
Return back towards the entrance gate through the woods. On the right is the gymnasium, which was built in the 1C and 2C.

The main area, above the surviving row of steps, was both a place of physical and intellectual education in the city. A rectangular courtyard is surrounded by a series of rooms with mosaic floors.

It is divided into two parts by a central basin in the form of nympheum. The floor of the northern part is paved with rectangular slabs. Inside the nympheum are three circular niches faced with marble and mosaic.
The floor of the basin is faced with marble in different colours in geometrical patterns. The north side was mainly used for gymnastic exercises, while the southern part was a rest and study area. The south-east rooms were parts of a bath house.

Some 500m from the park are the remains of a medieval tower. On the opposite side of the canal, on the promontory above the sea, is a small fortress built by Ali Pasha in 1807, to protect the shipping from the French fleet. In Roman times there was probably a small bridge hereabouts.