Butrint National Park is one of the most important areas of our country’s cultural, archaeological, environmental and touristic heritage. The heart of the National Park is the Ancient City of Butrint, whose existence continued without interruption, from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages, thus offering a variety of cultures and historical periods.
Butrint is located on a low hill at the end of the Ksamil peninsula, which separates the Ionian Sea from Lake Butrint. This site, like many other important archaeological centers in Albania, was declared a Cultural Monument in 1948. On the international level, the importance of the ancient city was recognized and confirmed as such in 1992, when it was included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage.
Butrint is a microcosm of Mediterranean history, presenting the rise and fall of the great empires that have dominated the region. Based on classical mythology, Buthrotum was built by exiles who fled after the fall of Troy. Upon reaching it, Priam’s son Helenus sacrificed a bull, which writhed wounded and died on the shore. Taking this as an auspicious sign, the place was named Buthrotum which means “wounded bull”. By the 4th century BC, Buthrotum had increased in importance and around 380 BC the site was fortified with a large wall with five gates. In 228 BC, it fell under Roman rule, and in the c. first before Christ became part of the province of Macedonia. Julius Caesar raised a colony and settled his veterans around 45 BC, while Augustus doubled the size of the city and the Roman colonizers. New buildings were built including an aqueduct, Roman baths, several houses, the forum and the nymphaeum. In the century 3 AD, an earthquake destroyed a large part of the city, after which its slow but steady decline began. At the beginning of the century 6, Buthrotum became a bishopric with new constructions including a large baptistery (one of the largest early Christian buildings of its type) and a basilica.
The theater in Butrint is built resting on the slope of the Acropolis hill overlooking the Vivar Canal. The use of the natural slope offered a practical solution to the seating area, and this was a common feature of ancient Greek theatres. The earliest theater seems to have been very small. It was enlarged in the century. 3 BC and the seating area was extended to the treasury building. The seats were organized according to a hierarchy, with the seats closest to the stage reserved for the most authoritative people. The first row of seats had a place to rest the feet and was decorated with beautiful lion feet, while behind the seats there were flat blocks. The stage of the building was remodeled during the Roman period, making it deeper and at least two stories higher. Also, the auditorium was enlarged in the Roman period as it had to accommodate the growing population of the city. The entrances to the theater from both sides of the stage were vaulted. It is still contested when the theater fell out of use, but it is likely that it happened in late antiquity, as it did everywhere in the Mediterranean world. Of course, the destruction of the structures and their reuse for other purposes must have been a lengthy process.
From the 5th century AD. again, Christianity was flourishing in Butrint and the city had its own bishop. The Baptistery was built in the second quarter of the century. 6 after the new era and may have been the work of local artisans. It was discovered in 1928 by the Italian Archaeological Mission. It is the second largest baptistery in the Roman Empire. All aspects of the architecture and decoration such as the mosaic floor of the baptistery are symbolic of the rite of baptism, with the fountain on its far side representing the source of eternal life. The extraordinary colorful floor mosaic of the Baptistery of Butrint is one of the most complete and complex mosaics of all baptisteries of the period. The overall design of the floor consists of seven rings, which surround the baptistery located in the center, increasing the number to eight – the Christian number for salvation and eternity. The attention of visitors crossing the threshold of the main entrance is drawn by two peacocks on a vine growing in a large vase. Peacocks symbolize heaven and immortality; the vase and the vine, the Eucharist and the blood of Christ. In the medieval period the building was modified with stone dams and a semi-circular apse; a floor of stone tiles was laid over the mosaic. Elsewhere in the city, eight churches have so far been found, the most significant being located in the field in front of the Vivar canal.
The castle was built in the 14th century by the Venetians on the top of the hill, on the western side of the wide plateau of the ancient acropolis. Butrint’s earlier medieval building – the Acropolis Castle – is largely a reconstruction of the 1930s: an important tower within a pentagonal enclosure, with turreted defensive walls. The castle offers a clear view of the Corfu Strait and the Vivar channel. The earliest buildings were cleared to make way for the new castle, which began with a surrounding fortification with watchtowers and only one inner two-story tower. A second tower was later added within the defensive enclosure: it was probably the keeper’s dwelling. In the 1930s, the Italians turned it into housing for archaeologists working on the site, as well as a small museum. The Butrint Museum, housed within the reconstructed acropolis hill citadel, with its modern and elegant enclosures was renovated and reopened in 2005 to showcase the rich and complex history of this town. The museum describes the history of Butrint as a microcosm of Mediterranean history, closely related to its positioning, a lagoon micro-region, with valuable illustrations presenting reconstructed dwellings with special orders, as well as important archive materials.
