Butrint

Butrint is a ruined city located around 20 kilometers south of Saranda. It stretches across a peninsula that is surrounded to the north and east by Lake Butrint and by a canal, which flows into the Ionian Sea after around two and a half kilometers.

Numerous cultures have left their marks on Butrint.

Butrint was originally one of the main towns of the Chaonians, an Epirote tribe. The oldest finds date from the 10th to the 8th century BC. Excavations uncovered pottery from the 7th century BC. Ceramics from the 6th century BC from Corinth and Attica have also been found. A fortification has existed on the Acropolis since the 6th century BC.

In the following centuries Butrint was largely Hellenized linguistically and culturally. It was one of the largest cities in the region at this time and had several magnificent buildings.

In 228 BC, Butrint became a Roman protectorate and was was part of the part of the province of Macedonia since 146 BC. In 48 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar visited the city and declared it a veterans' colony. Since there was resistance to this, which was discussed (by Cicero) in the Roman Senate, the city only received a small number of colonists. But shortly after the Battle of Actium (31 BC), Emperor Augustus renewed his plans to make Butrint a veterans' colony. The city doubled in size and experienced its heyday in the next few decades. The city was named Colonia Iulia (or Augusta) Buthrotum in honor of the emperor and minted coins as such.

With the Christianization, Butrint became the seat of a bishop in the 4th century. Butrint survived the raids during the Migration Period unscathed due to its protected location on a peninsula.

At the end of the 6th century Butrint was one of the few towns in Epirus that retained its status as an episcopal see. Colonization by the Byzantine authorities seems to have taken place in the 9th and 10th centuries. It remained an outpost of the Byzantine empire fending off assaults from the Normans until 1204 when following the Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine Empire fragmented. In the following centuries, the area was a site of constant conflicts.

In 1267, Charles of Anjou took control of Butrint and Corfu. In 1274, Byzantine forces re-entered Butrint. The Charles of Anjou and the orthodox Nikephoros allied and drove the Byzantines from the area in 1278.

From 1284 the Angevin control was limited to Butrint and nearby Corfu. The Republic of Venice purchased the area including Corfu from the Angevins in 1386, however, the Venetian merchants were principally interested in Corfu and Butrint declined.

By 1572 the wars between Venice and the Ottoman Empire had left Butrinto ruinous and the acropolis was abandoned.


The so-called "Lion Gate" takes its name from the relief above the entrance, which shows a lion devouring the head of a bull. It is one of six entrances to the city.

The lion relief was not part of the original wall, but was added here in the 5th or 6th century AD to make the gate smaller and easier to defend. The relief comes probably from a temple building and could date as early as the 6th century BC.