The city is considered one of the most importantarchaeological sites in Albania. On the strength of the immense wealth of cultural, historical and natural value with a considerable history, Butrint was declared aUNESCOWorld Heritage Site in 1992 and further aNational Park in 2000 under the leadership ofAuron Tare, its first director.[6][7]
The earliest archaeological evidence of settled occupation dates to between 10th and 8th centuries BC, although some claim that there is earlier evidence of habitation dating from the 12th century BC.[8][need quotation to verify]
Excavation at Bouthroton has yieldedProto-Corinthian pottery of the 7th century and thenCorinthian andAttic pottery of the 6th century, however there are no indications of a prehistoric settlement.[9]Bouthroton was in a strategically important position due its access to theStraits of Corfu, and its location at the crossroads of mainland Greece andMagna Graecia, the Greek and the "barbarian" worlds.[10] Thus, it became one of the two ancient ports in lowerChaonia, the other beingOnchesmos (modern Sarandë).[11]
Bouthroton (modern day Butrint) was originally one of the major centres of the Epirote tribe of theChaonians,[12] part of the northwestern Greek group of tribes.[13] They had close contacts to theCorinthian colony ofCorcyra (modernCorfu). According to the Roman writerVirgil, its legendary founder was the seerHelenus, a son ofking Priamof Troy, who had moved West after the fall of Troy withNeoptolemus and his concubineAndromache. Both Virgil and the Greek historianDionysius of Halicarnassus recorded thatAeneas visitedBouthroton after his own escape from the destruction of Troy.
The acropolis was erected on a hill on the bank of alake Butrint (or lake Bouthrotum). The first extension of the 7th century BC acropolis occurred during the 5th century BC.[14] During the first years of the secondPeloponnesian War (413–404 BC) the Corkyreans built fortifications stretching fromKsamil to Buthrotum. Buthrotum being previously an independent city, became subject to nearby Corfu.[15]
By the 4th century BC it had grown in importance and included atheatre, a sanctuary dedicated toAsclepius and anagora. The acropolis of Bouthrotum was protected by three circuit walls. The last and outer wall was erected around 380 BC enclosing and area of 4ha. This 870m-long wall included bastions and five gates.[16] Two of the most important gates were known as Scean and Lion gate.[17] Moreover, the agora, thestoas, the residential zone and the theatre were located in a separate walled area.[14]
Several inscriptions in Buthrotum describe the organization of the Chaonians in the beginning of the 3rd cent. BC. which show that they too had an annual leader calledProstates (Greek:Προστάτης Protector).[13] The Greek calendar of Bouthroton appears in the oldest knownanalog computer, the so-calledAntikythera Mechanism (c. 150 to 100 BC).[18][19]
The theatre is known for the impressive number of inscriptions carved on its stones. Most of them deal with manumissions and give a great amount of details on the city during the Hellenistic era.[20] The names of those slaves were almost exclusively Greek with a few exception of Latin ones which bore Greek family names.[21]
In 228 BCButhrotum became a Romanprotectorate alongside Corfu.[22] In the middle of the second century BC Buthrotum was the centre of an independent state, possibly the "Koinon of the Prasaiboi", as listed in the list of thetheorodokoi at theOracle of Delphi.[23]
Bronze coin minted at Buthrotum during the reign of Augustus (27 BC–14 AD). The ethnic legend BVTHR is inscribed on the reverse.[24]
In the next century, it became a part of a province ofMacedonia. In 44 BC,Caesar designatedButhrotum as acolony to reward soldiers who had fought for him againstPompey. Local landholderTitus Pomponius Atticus objected to his correspondentCicero who lobbied against the plan in the Senate. As a result, only small numbers of colonists were settled.
Remains of the baptistery
In 31 BC,Roman EmperorAugustus fresh from his victory overMark Antony and Cleopatra at thebattle of Actium renewed the plan to makeButhrotum a veterans' colony. New residents expanded the city and the construction included anaqueduct, aRoman bath, houses, a forum complex and anymphaeum. During that era the size of the town was doubled.[25] A number of new structures were built next to the existing ones especially around the theatre and the temple of Asklepeios.[26]
In the 3rd century AD, anearthquake destroyed a large part of the town, levelling buildings in the suburbs on the Vrina Plain and in the forum of the city centre. Excavations have revealed that city had already been in decline. However, the settlement survived into the late antique era, becoming a major port in the province of Old Epirus. The town of late antiquity included the grandTriconch Palace, the house of a major local notable that was built around 425.
The walls of the city were extensively rebuilt, most probably at the end of the 5th century, perhaps byByzantine EmperorAnastasius. TheOstrogoths underIndulf raided the Ionian coast in 550 and may have attacked Buthrotum. In the end of 6th century groups of Slavs possibly arrived at Buthrotum.[27] Evidence from the excavations shows that importation of commodities, wine and oil from the Eastern Mediterranean continued into the early years of the 7th century when the early Byzantine Empirelost these provinces. During the period of Slavic invasions and population movements in the wider region Butrotum was one of the few cities in Epirus that survived and retained its status as a seat of a bishopric without interruption.[28]
Because of the scarcity of sources, it is difficult to assess whether Buthrotos was controlled by Slavs or Byzantines between the 7th to 10th centuries.[29] Byzantine written sources of that time mention that SaintElias of Enna was detained as a spy in Bouthrotos, whileArsenios of Corfu (876–953) noted the marine wealth of the town.[30] The Grand Basilica of Buthrotum was built during the first half of the 6th century on the northeast side of the settlement.[31] Other monuments include the Acropolic Basilica (4th century), the Triconch Palace (6th century), the Baptistery with a large, complex mosaic (6th century), the Lake Gate church (9th century) and the Baptistery church (9th century).[32] Colonization by the Byzantine authorities seems to coincide during the reign ofLeo VI (886–912). Imperial administrators of that time possibly governed the region from the "oikos" (Greek:οίκος,residence) from Vrina plain rather than from the citadel.[30] Archaeological records become stronger in the 10th century.[30]
The inventories of bishoprics from the 10th to 12th centuries identify the bishop of Butrint as subject to themetropolitan bishopric of Nafpaktos, the ecclesiastical province that took the name of the old provincial capital ofNicopolis.[33] Arab travellerMuhammad al-Idrisi noted in the 12th century that Buthrotum is a densely populated city with a number of markets.[34]
It remained an outpost of the Byzantine empire fending off assaults from theNormans until 1204 when following theFourth Crusade, theByzantine Empire fragmented, Buthrotum falling to the breakawayDespotate of Epirus. In the following centuries, the area was a site of conflict between the Byzantines, theAngevins of southern Italy, and theVenetians.
Between Angevins, Byzantine Empire and Despotate of Epirus
The fortifications were probably strengthened by Byzantine Emperor Michael I.[35]
In 1267,Charles of Anjou took control of both Butrint and Corfu, leading to further restorations of the walls and the Grand Basilica. In 1274, Byzantine forces re-entered Butrint, an act which caused conflict between the Byzantines and theDespotate of Epirus, becauseDespot Nikephoros considered the site to be his domain.[36] Despite deep religious differences between the Catholic Charles of Anjou and the staunchly Orthodox Nikephoros, the two allied against Byzantine Emperor Michael, and together drove the Byzantines from the area in 1278.[36] Then, pressed by Charles, Nikephoros ultimately ended up recognizing Charles' rights to all the town that Michael II had awarded toManfred of Hohenstaufen as part of his wifeHelen's dowry, as Charles was his successor, thus ceding to him Butrint as well as the entire Acroceraunian Coast from Vlora to Butrint.[36]
From 1284 Byzantine EmperorAndronikos II was in control of most of today's Albania and Angevin control on the Balkan mainland was limited to Butrinto, the later formed a single administrative unit together with nearby Corfu.[37] In the 14th century the site shared a similar fate with Corfu.[37] Butrint remained under Angevin rule until 1386, with only two other interruptions: in 1306, and in 1313–1331.[38] In 1305-1306 it was controlled by the Despot of Epirus,Thomas I Komnenos Doukas.[39] Butrint became Catholic after it was conquered by the Angevins, and remained so throughout the fourteenth century.[38]
Hodges argues that the "episodic" defensive investment in Butrint as a town during this period demonstrates that it still possessed an active urban population, although not one urban dwelling had been identified at the time of writing. Hodges argues this indicates that dwellings were concentrated on the slopes of the northern citadel. The Orthodox Bishopric was transferred to nearbyGlyki in 1337 or 1338. The town was reduced in size during the end of the 14th century, due to the tumultuous unrest in the region.[40]
The dogalRepublic of Venice purchased the area including Corfu from the Angevins in 1386; however, the Venetian merchants were principally interested in Corfu and Butrinto once again declined.
Butrinto, a Venetian enclave on the Ottoman mainland
By 1572 the wars between Venice and theOttoman Empire had left Butrinto ruinous and the acropolis was abandoned, while at the order of Domenico Foscarini, the Venetian commander of Corfu, the administration of Butrinto and its environs was shifted to a small triangular fortress associated with the extensive fish weirs. The area was lightly settled afterwards, occasionally being seized by the Ottoman Turks, in 1655 and 1718, before being recaptured by the Venetians. Its fisheries were a vital contributor to the supply of Corfu, and olive growing together with cattle and timber were the principal economic activities.[41]
However, in October 1798 the city wasconquered by the localOttomanAlbanian rulerAli Pasha Tepelena, and after his death, it officially became a part of the Ottoman Empire until Albania gained its independence in 1912. By that time, the site of the original city had been unoccupied for centuries and was surrounded by malarial marshes. During Ottoman rule in Epirus, the inhabitants of Butrint displayed continuous support for Greek revolutionary activities.[43]
In 1913, after the end of theFirst Balkan War, Butrint was ceded toGreece but Italy challenged the decision and in theTreaty of London the region was given to the newly createdPrincipality of Albania. As such Butrint was located near the southern border of the newly established Albanian state in a largely Greek-speaking territory.[44] The local Greek population was enraged and created anAutonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, for six months, before it was reluctantly ceded to Albania, with peace assured by Italian peacekeeping force until 1919.[45] Italy rejected the decision because it didn't want Greece to control both sides of theStraits of Corfu.[46]
In the early 6th century, Buthrotum became the seat of a bishopric and new construction included theButhrotum baptistery, one of the largest such paleochristian buildings of its type, and abasilica. The diocese of Buthrotum was initially asuffragan of theMetropolis of Nicopolis, the metropolitan capital ofEpirus Vetus and in the papal sway, but in the 9th and 10th centuries it is listed with the suffragans ofNaupaktos, which succeeded ruined Nicopolis as provincial capital and metropolis of the new Byzantinetheme ofNicopolis,[47] bringing it in the sway of the ByzantinePatriarchate of Constantinople. After the 14th century, it was under the jurisdiction of theMetropolis of Ioannina.
Two of its Byzantine (pre-Eastern Schism) bishops are mentioned in extant documents:
Matthaeus signed the synodal letter of the bishops of the province toPope Hormisdas in 516 concerning the ordination of Metropolitan John of Nicopolis.[48][49][50] It became aLatin Church see under Angevin and Venetian rule.
A Latin see was established circa 1250 under the Italian nameButrinto, functioning underAngevin andVenetian rule, but suppressed circa 1400. The 6th-centurybasilica was rebuilt by kingCharles I of Naples in 1267.
Butrint theatre on the reverse of a 2012 2000Lekë banknote
Buthrotum is today listed by theCatholic Church as a Latin titular see[51] since the diocese was nominally restored in 1933 astitular bishopric of Buthrotum (Latin) / Butrinto (Curiate Italian) / Butrint (Albanian).
The first modern archaeological excavations began in 1928 when theFascist government ofBenito Mussolini'sItaly sent an expedition to Butrint. The aim was geopolitical rather than scientific, aiming to extend Italian hegemony in the area. The leader was an Italian archaeologist,Luigi Maria Ugolini who despite the political aims of his mission was a good archaeologist. Ugolini died in 1936, but the excavations continued until 1943 and theSecond World War. They uncovered theHellenistic andRoman part of the city including the "Lion Gate" and the "Scaean Gate" (named by Ugolini for the famous gate atTroy mentioned in theHomericIliad).
After thecommunist government ofEnver Hoxha took Albania over in 1944, foreign archaeological missions were banned. Albanian archaeologists includingHasan Ceka continued the work.Nikita Khrushchev visited the ruins in 1959 and suggested that Hoxha should turn the area into a submarine base. The Albanian Institute of Archaeology began larger scale excavations in the 1970s. Since 1993 further major excavations have taken place led by theButrint Foundation in collaboration with the Albanian Institute of Archaeology. Recent excavations in the western defences of the city have revealed evidence of the continued use of the walls, implying the continuation of life in the town. The walls themselves certainly seem to have burnt down in the 9th century, but were subsequently repaired.
After the collapse of the communist regime in 1992, the new democratic government planned various major developments at the site. The same year remains of Butrint were included in theUNESCO list ofWorld Heritage Sites. A major political and economic crisis in 1997 and lobbying stopped the airport plan and UNESCO placed it on theList of World Heritage in Danger because oflooting, lack of protection, management and conservation. Archaeological missions during 1994–9 uncovered furtherRoman villas and an early Christian church.[27]
In 2004,[52] archaeological excavations continued under principal investigator, David R. Hernandez.[53]
Climate change means that the site, especially the area of the ancient theatre and Roman forum, can sometimes be covered with water, and a new management plan for both the cultural and natural assets has been implemented.[54]
The site of Butrint is accessible fromSarandë, along a road first built in 1959 for a visit by theSoviet leaderNikita Khrushchev. This road was upgraded during the summer of 2010. The construction was somewhat of an environmental disaster and may yet threaten Butrint's World Heritage Site status. The ancient city is becoming a popular tourist destination, attracting day-trippers from the nearby Greek holiday island of Corfu. Hydrofoils (30 minutes) and ferries (90 minutes) run daily betweenCorfu and Sarandë.
^Borza, Eugene N. (1992).In the Shadow of Olympus: the Emergence of Macedon (Revised ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Speakers of these various Greek dialects settled different parts of Greece at different times during the Middle Bronze Age, with one group, the 'northwest' Greeks, developing their own dialect and peopling central Epirus. This was the origin of the Molossian or Epirotic tribes. [...] a proper dialect of Greek, like the dialects spoken by Dorians and Molossians. ... The western mountains were peopled by the Molossians (the western Greeks of Epirus).
^Crew, P. Mack (1982).The Cambridge Ancient History – The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC, Part 3: Volume 3 (Second ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.That the Molossians... spoke Illyrian or another barbaric tongue was nowhere suggested, althoughAeschylus andPindar wrote of Molossian lands. That they in fact spoke greek was implied byHerodotus' inclusion of Molossi among the Greek colonists of Asia Minor, but became demonstrable only when D. Evangelides published two long inscriptions of the Molossian State, set up p. 369 BC atDodona, in Greek and with Greek names, Greek patronymies and Greek tribal names such as Celaethi, Omphales, Tripolitae, Triphylae etc. As the Molossian cluster of tribes in the time of Hecataeus included the Orestae, Pelagones, Lyncestae, Tymphaei and Elimeotae, as we have argued above, we may be confident that they too were Greek-speaking.
^Hammond, NGL (1994).Philip of Macedon. London, UK: Duckworth.Epirus was a land of milk and animal products ... The social unit was a small tribe, consisting of several nomadic or semi-nomadic groups, and these tribes, of which more than seventy names are known, coalesced into large tribal coalitions, three in number: Thesprotians, Molossians and Chaonians ... We know from the discovery of inscriptions that these tribes were speaking the Greek language (in a West-Greek dialect).
^The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC, p. 269, Cambridge University Press,ISBN978-0-521-23447-4, 1982
^Cabanes, P. (1997)."The Growth of the Cities".Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn: 92.ISBN9789602133712.Lower Chaonia utilized the port of Onchesmos (modern Hagioi Saranta) and Bouthrotos
^Strabo.The Geography. Book VII, Chapter 7.5 (LacusCurtius).
^abBoardman, John (1994).The Cambridge Ancient History: The fourth century B.C. Cambridge University Press. p. 437.ISBN9780521233484.The north-west Greeks occupied a large area, extending in the west from the Gulf of Ambracia to the Gulf of Oricum ... The main groups from south to north were called Thesproti, Athamanes, Molossi, Atintanes, Chaones, Parauaei, ...
^abIoanna, Andreou (1997)."Urban Organization".Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn: 100.ISBN9789602133712.Bouthrotos, which is situated on a hill on the bank of the lake of the same name, was laid out in the fifth century around an acropolis dating from the seventh century B.C. The walled area at the highest part of the hill, measuring 600x150 m. was ... The agora with its stoas, theatre etc. was organised in a separate, also fortified area.
^Hammond, N. G. L (1997)."The Tribal Systems of Epirus and Neighbouring Areas down to 400 B.C."Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization: 56.ISBN9789602133712.The early years of the Second Peloponnesian War ... fortification wall in Epirus-, and it is evident that Bouthrotos, an independent city in the time of Hekataios, was made subject to Kerkyra.
^Freeth, Tony; Bitsakis, Yanis; Moussas, Xenophon; Seiradakis, John H.; Tselikas, A.; Mangou, H.; Zafeiropoulou, M.; Hadland, R.; et al. (2006). "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism".Nature.444 (7119):587–91.Bibcode:2006Natur.444..587F.doi:10.1038/nature05357.PMID17136087.
^Freeth, Tony; Jones, Alexander (2012). "The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism". Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Retrieved 19 May 2014
^Cabanes, P. (1997)."From Alexander Molossus to Pyrrhus: Political Developments".Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn: 122.ISBN9789602133712.The list of thearodokoi of Delphi in the middle of the second century34 confirms that at this period Bouthrotos was the centre of an independent state which was visited by the theoroi
^Cabanes, P. (1997)."From Alexander Molossus to Pyrrhus: Political Developments".Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization. Ekdotikē Athēnōn: 126.ISBN9789602133712."At Bouthrotos, it is enough to compare the theatre, built of grey poros, with all the Roman structures surrounding it: the skene and the neighbouring buildings, the new sanctuary of Asklepios and the areas next to it
^Chrysos, E. (1997)."The Foundation of the Themes of Kephallenia, Dyrrachion and Nikopolis".Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization: 188.ISBN9789602133712.The foundation of the theme of Nikopolis also marked the end of the transitional period associated with the Slavic invasions and settlements... only two of the old cities have survived -Hadrianoupolis, ... and Bouthrotos, for which we possess exiguous but sufficient evidence of continuity and survival.
^Richard Hodges (2008).Rise and Fall of Byzantine Butrint. Butrint Foundation. p. 19.
^abcLala, Etleva (2008).Regnum Albaniae. Pages 37-38: Nikephoros I Angelos (1271–1296)... The relations between the despot of Epiros and the king of the Regnum Albaniae varied at different times, but mostly they were cordial because they had a common enemy in Michael VIII. The relationship which developed between them is rather astonishing considering the fact that Charles was a favored vassal of the papacy while Nikephoros was Orthodox, a staunch opponent of the union of the churches and thus an enemy of papal plans in the Byzantine lands... He even used the chance to fight Michael openly, when Byzantine troops entered Butrint (1274), which Despot Nikephoros considered to be his own. Nikephoros was able to retake Butrint from the Byzantines only in 1278, and pressed by Charles, he was forced to make a formal vassal submission to him, yielding to the latter the newly recovered town as well as the port of Sopot. By recognizing Charles’ right to all the towns that Michael II had awarded to Manfred of Hohenstaufen as the dowry of Helen, Nikephoros also surrendered the port of Himara to the Anjous. As a result Charles acquired possession of the Adriatic coast from the Acroceraunian promontory (below the Bay of Vlora) down to Butrinti.
^Hansen, Inge Lyse; Hodges, Richard; Leppard, Sarah (2013).Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town. Oxbow Books. p. 16.ISBN9781782971023.The episodic investment in defending Butrint as a town in the 13th and 14th centuries shows it still possessed an active urban population. Paradoxically not one urban dwelling has yet been identified. These, we may surmise, were concentrated on the slopes of the northern citadel, and perhaps on the steep south-facing lower slopes of the acropolis... In all probability the town had been dwindling in size sine the tumultuous unrest in the region during the later 14th century. Moving the bishopric to Glyki in 1337/38, however, removed a powerful urban institution, and with increasing Ottoman pressure to capture the important fishing here..."
^During his short career as an ensign in a Venetian regiment, 20-year-oldCasanova spent 3 days on Butrinto guarding galley slaves cutting and loading timber on 4 galleys. He mentions the objective of this once-a-year routine was mainly to 'show the flag' and safeguard Venice's rights to that nearly deserted outpost. Giacomo Casanova,Histoire de ma vie, Librairie Plon, Paris, vol II, chap V, p. 198-199.
^Fleming, K. E. (14 July 2014).The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece. Princeton University Press. pp. 70–71.ISBN978-1-4008-6497-3.... Parga, Vonitza, Preveza, and Butrinto. In 1401 the peoples of Parga had established the precedent of colluding with Venice by placing themselves voluntarily under Venetian protection, thus staying the advance of the Ottomans. ... These territories came to be known for their staunch support of the Greek revolutionary cause, and Parga colluded with the independent Orthodox peoples of Souli in their chronic battles with Ali Pasha.
Richard Hodges and Matthew Logue, "The Mid-Byzantine Re-Birth of Butrint",Minerva 18, #3 (May/June 2007): 41–43.
A. M. Liberati, L. Miraj, I. Pojani, F. Sear, J. Wilkes and B. Polci, ed. by O. J. Gilkes.The Theatre at Butrint. Luigi Maria Ugolini's Excavations at Butrint 1928-1932, (Albania Antica IV) (Supplementary volume no. 35. Published by the British School at Athens, 2003).
Jarrett A. Lobell,Ages of Albania (Archeology magazine March/April 2006)
Ugolini L. M.,Butrinto il Mito D'Enea, gli Scavi. Rome: Istituto Grefico Tiberino, 1937 (reprint Tirana: Istituto Italiano di Cultura, 1999)
1 withAustria,Belgium,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Czech Republic,France,Germany,Italy,North Macedonia,Poland,Romania,Slovakia,Slovenia,Spain,Switzerland andUkraine 2 This is the extension of the site that has been inscribed in North Macedonia since 1979. The area around the town of Pogradec at the shores of Lake Ohrid was inhabited by the Illyrians in the 5th century BC, followed by the Romans and the Slavs. Traces of the Roman road Via Egnatia are evidence of an important passage route in the region. The ruins of the paleo-christian church of Lin together with its floor mosaics reveal the presence of Christianity. The historical centre of Pogradec represents an example of 19th to 20th century Albanian vernacular architecture.
1 Includes localities with a substantial ethnic Greek population, or otherwise with any kind of cultural or other type of significance, historical or current, for the Greek minority in Albania. 2 Includes individuals not necessarily of Greek ethnicity but with important contributions to Greek civilization.
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