Butrint

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.{{cite book | last = Ceka | first = Neritan | author-link = Neritan Ceka |author2=transl. Pranvera Xhelo | title = Buthrotum: Its History & Monuments | publisher = Cetis Tirana | year = 2002 | location = Tirana | pages = 19 | isbn = 978-99927-801-2-1 }}{{qn|date=January 2023}}

File:Butrint Karte de.png

Excavation at Bouthroton has yielded Proto-Corinthian pottery of the 7th century and then Corinthian and Attic pottery of the 6th century, however there are no indications of a prehistoric settlement.The Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 3, Part 3: The Expansion of the Greek World, Eighth to Sixth Centuries BC, p. 269, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-23447-4}}, 1982 Bouthroton was in a strategically important position due its access to the Straits of Corfu, and its location at the crossroads of mainland Greece and Magna Graecia, the Greek and the "barbarian" worlds.David R. Hernandez, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.86.2.0205 Bouthrotos (Butrint) in the Archaic and Classical Periods: The Acropolis and Temple of Athena Polias]", Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol.86, No. 2 (April–June 2017), p. 205. Thus, it became one of the two ancient ports in lower Chaonia, the other being Onchesmos (modern Sarandë).{{cite journal |last1=Cabanes |first1=P. |title=The Growth of the Cities |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ekdotikē Athēnōn |isbn=9789602133712 |language=en |quote=Lower Chaonia utilized the port of Onchesmos (modern Hagioi Saranta) and Bouthrotos}}

Bouthroton (modern day Butrint) was originally one of the major centres of the Epirote tribe of the Chaonians,Strabo. The Geography. Book VII, Chapter 7.5 ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/7G*.html LacusCurtius]). part of the northwestern Greek group of tribes.{{cite book |last1=Boardman |first1=John |title=The Cambridge Ancient History: The fourth century B.C |date=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=437 |isbn=9780521233484 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kFosAQAAIAAJ |language=en |quote=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, ...}} They had close contacts to the Corinthian colony of Corcyra (modern Corfu). According to the Roman writer Virgil, its legendary founder was the seer Helenus, a son of king Priam of Troy, who had moved West after the fall of Troy with Neoptolemus and his concubine Andromache. Both Virgil and the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus recorded that Aeneas visited Bouthroton after his own escape from the destruction of Troy.

File:Pan Butrint.webp unearthed in Butrint in 1981]]

The acropolis was erected on a hill on the bank of a lake Butrint (or lake Bouthrotum). The first extension of the 7th century BC acropolis occurred during the 5th century BC.{{cite journal |last1=Ioanna |first1=Andreou |title=Urban Organization |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ekdotikē Athēnōn |isbn=9789602133712 |language=en |quote=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.}} During the first years of the second Peloponnesian War (413–404 BC) the Corkyreans built fortifications stretching from Ksamil to Buthrotum. Buthrotum being previously an independent city, became subject to nearby Corfu.{{cite journal |last1=Hammond |first1=N. G. L |title=The Tribal Systems of Epirus and Neighbouring Areas down to 400 B.C. |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=56 |isbn=9789602133712 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |quote=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.}}

By the 4th century BC it had grown in importance and included a theatre, a sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius and an agora. 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.Ceka, p22 Two of the most important gates were known as Scean and Lion gate.{{cite book |last1=Stillwell |first1=Richard |title=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites |date=2017 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=9781400886586 |page=175 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NpArDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |language=en}} Moreover, the agora, the stoas, the residential zone and the theatre were located in a separate walled area.

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 called Prostates ({{langx|el|Προστάτης}} Protector). The Greek calendar of Bouthroton appears in the oldest known analog computer, the so-called Antikythera Mechanism (c. 150 to 100 BC).Freeth, Tony; Bitsakis, Yanis; Moussas, Xenophon; Seiradakis, John. H.; Tselikas, A.; Mangou, H.; Zafeiropoulou, M.; Hadland, R.; et al. (30 November 2006). "Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism" (PDF). Nature. 444 Supplement (7119): 587–91. {{Bibcode|2006Natur.444..587F}}. {{doi|10.1038/nature05357}}. {{PMID|17136087}}. Retrieved 20 May 2014.Freeth, Tony; Jones, Alexander (2012). "The Cosmos in the Antikythera Mechanism". Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Retrieved 19 May 2014

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.Pierre Cabanes, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/20186365 Nouvelles inscriptions d'Albanie Méridionale (Bouthrotos et Apollonia)]", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Bd. 63 (1986), pp. 137–155. The names of those slaves were almost exclusively Greek with a few exception of Latin ones which bore Greek family names.{{cite book |last1=Winnifrith |first1=Tom |title=Badlands, Borderlands: A History of Northern Epirus/Southern Albania |date=2002 |publisher=Duckworth |isbn=978-0-7156-3201-7 |page=70 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dkRoAAAAMAAJ |language=en |quote=manumission inscriptions at Butrint, where the names of slaves manumitted are almost all Greek, confirm this...family members}}

In 228 BC Buthrotum became a Roman protectorate alongside Corfu.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ztqyJi7Ec9UC&q=Buthrotum+became+a+Roman+protectorate&pg=PA65|title=The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge|date=1836|publisher=C. Knight|language=en}} 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 the theorodokoi at the Oracle of Delphi.{{cite journal |last1=Cabanes |first1=P. |title=From Alexander Molossus to Pyrrhus: Political Developments |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ekdotikē Athēnōn |isbn=9789602133712 |language=en |quote=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}}

File:Buthrotum,_provincial_AE,_27_BC-AD_14,_RPC_I_1394.2.jpg, Michel Amandry, Pere Pau Ripollès, Roman provincial coinage. : Volume I, From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitellius 44 BC-AD 69, London/Paris, 1992, n°1394.2.|alt=|left]]

In the next century, it became a part of a province of Macedonia. In 44 BC, Caesar designated Buthrotum as a colony to reward soldiers who had fought for him against Pompey. Local landholder Titus Pomponius Atticus objected to his correspondent Cicero who lobbied against the plan in the Senate. As a result, only small numbers of colonists were settled.

File:Butrint_Albania_10_baptistery.jpg

In 31 BC, Roman Emperor Augustus fresh from his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium renewed the plan to make Buthrotum a veterans' colony. New residents expanded the city and the construction included an aqueduct, a Roman bath, houses, a forum complex and a nymphaeum. During that era the size of the town was doubled.{{cite book|last1=Hodges|first1=Richard|last2=Bowden|first2=William|last3=Lako|first3=Kosta|author4=Richard Andrews|title=Byzantine Butrint: excavations and surveys 1994–1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3lpAAAAMAAJ&q=Roman+Butrint+was+more+than+twice+as+big+as+the+town+was+in+the+1st+century+BC|access-date=8 January 2011|year=2004|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-84217-158-5|page=54}} A number of new structures were built next to the existing ones especially around the theatre and the temple of Asklepeios.{{cite journal |last1=Cabanes |first1=P. |title=From Alexander Molossus to Pyrrhus: Political Developments |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ekdotikē Athēnōn |isbn=9789602133712 |language=en |quote="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}}

In the 3rd century AD, an earthquake 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 grand Triconch 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 by Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. The Ostrogoths under Indulf raided the Ionian coast in 550 and may have attacked Buthrotum. In the end of 6th century groups of Slavs possibly arrived at Buthrotum.{{cite book|last1=Hodges|first1=Richard|last2=Bowden|first2=William|last3=Lako|first3=Kosta|author4=Richard Andrews|title=Byzantine Butrint: excavations and surveys 1994–1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V3lpAAAAMAAJ&q=Roman+villa|access-date=8 January 2011|year=2004|publisher=Oxbow Books|isbn=978-1-84217-158-5|page=54}} 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 Empire lost 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.{{cite journal |last1=Chrysos |first1=E. |title=The Foundation of the Themes of Kephallenia, Dyrrachion and Nikopolis |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=188 |isbn=9789602133712 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |quote=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.}}

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.{{cite book|author=Richard Hodges|title=Rise and Fall of Byzantine Butrint|year=2008|publisher=Butrint Foundation|page=19}} Byzantine written sources of that time mention that Saint Elias of Enna was detained as a spy in Bouthrotos, while Arsenios of Corfu (876–953) noted the marine wealth of the town.{{cite book |last1=Decker |first1=Michael J. |title=The Byzantine Dark Ages |date=25 February 2016 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4725-3605-1 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWTdCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT100 |language=en}} The Grand Basilica of Buthrotum was built during the first half of the 6th century on the northeast side of the settlement.{{cite book |last1=Giakoumēs |first1=Geōrgios K. |last2=Vlassas |first2=Grēgorēs |last3=Hardy |first3=David A. |title=Monuments of Orthodoxy in Albania |date=1996 |publisher=Doukas School |isbn=9789607203090 |page=96 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNVOAAAAYAAJ |language=en}} 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).{{cite thesis |last1=Pratt |first1=Suzanna |title=The impact of heritage management on local communities in the hinterland of Butrint National Park, southern Albania |date=2013 |page=17 |url=https://www.academia.edu/4724922 |access-date=25 August 2019 |language=en}} Colonization by the Byzantine authorities seems to coincide during the reign of Leo VI (886–912). Imperial administrators of that time possibly governed the region from the "oikos" ({{langx|el|οίκος}}, residence) from Vrina plain rather than from the citadel. Archaeological records become stronger in the 10th century.

File:2011_Butrint_02_Agora.jpg of Buthrotum]]

The inventories of bishoprics from the 10th to 12th centuries identify the bishop of Butrint as subject to the metropolitan bishopric of Nafpaktos, the ecclesiastical province that took the name of the old provincial capital of Nicopolis.{{cite book |last1=Hodges |first1=Richard |last2=Bowden |first2=William |last3=Lako |first3=Kosta |title=Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994-99 |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-870-1 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3zKDwAAQBAJ |language=en}} Arab traveller Muhammad al-Idrisi noted in the 12th century that Buthrotum is a densely populated city with a number of markets.{{cite journal |last1=Prinzing |first1=G. |title=Political, Social and Economic Developments |journal=Epirus, 4000 Years of Greek History and Civilization |date=1997 |page=194 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UV1oAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Ekdotikē Athēnōn |isbn=9789602133712 |language=en}}

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, Buthrotum falling to the breakaway Despotate of Epirus. In the following centuries, the area was a site of conflict between the Byzantines, the Angevins of southern Italy, and the Venetians.

The fortifications were probably strengthened by Byzantine Emperor Michael I.{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Inge Lyse |last2=Hodges |first2=Richard |last3=Leppard |first3=Sarah |title=Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town |date=2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=9781782971023 |page=277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2X9-AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA277 |language=en}}

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 the Despotate of Epirus, because Despot Nikephoros considered the site to be his domain.Lala, 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. 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. Then, pressed by Charles, Nikephoros ultimately ended up recognizing Charles' rights to all the town that Michael II had awarded to Manfred of Hohenstaufen as part of his wife Helen's dowry, as Charles was his successor, thus ceding to him Butrint as well as the entire Acroceraunian Coast from Vlora to Butrint.

{{See also|Regnum Albaniae}}

From 1284 Byzantine Emperor Andronikos 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.{{cite book |last1=Hodges |first1=Richard |last2=Bowden |first2=William |last3=Lako |first3=Kosta |title=Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994-99 |date=28 February 2020 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-78570-870-1 |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C3zKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT69 |language=en}} In the 14th century the site shared a similar fate with Corfu. Butrint remained under Angevin rule until 1386, with only two other interruptions: in 1306, and in 1313–1331.Lala, Etleva (2008). Regnum Albaniae. Page 147 In 1305-1306 it was controlled by the Despot of Epirus, Thomas I Komnenos Doukas.{{cite encyclopedia | editor-first = Alexander | editor-last = Kazhdan | editor-link = Alexander Kazhdan | encyclopedia = The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford and New York | year = 1991 | isbn = 978-0-19-504652-6 }} Butrint became Catholic after it was conquered by the Angevins, and remained so throughout the fourteenth century.

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 nearby Glyki 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.{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Inge Lyse |last2=Hodges |first2=Richard |last3=Leppard |first3=Sarah |title=Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town |date=2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=9781782971023 |page=16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2X9-AwAAQBAJ |language=en|quote=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..."}}

The dogal Republic 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.File:Butrint (Buthrotum, Butrinto). Venetian enclave facing Corfu..jpg

By 1572 the wars between Venice and the Ottoman 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.During his short career as an ensign in a Venetian regiment, 20-year-old Casanova 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.

The Treaty of Campo Formio of 1797 split between France and Austria the territory of the Republic of Venice, which France had just occupied and abolished, and under article 5 of the treaty, Butrinto and the other former Venetian enclaves in Albania came under French sovereignty.{{cite web|url=http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/government/diplomatic/c_campoformio1.html|title=Treaty of Campo Formio 1797|access-date=8 June 2016}}

However, in October 1798 the city was conquered by the local Ottoman Albanian ruler Ali 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.{{cite book |last1=Fleming |first1=K. E. |title=The Muslim Bonaparte: Diplomacy and Orientalism in Ali Pasha's Greece |date=14 July 2014 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-6497-3 |pages=70–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFgABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |language=en |quote=... 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.}}

In 1913, after the end of the First Balkan War, Butrint was ceded to Greece but Italy challenged the decision and in the Treaty of London the region was given to the newly created Principality of Albania. As such Butrint was located near the southern border of the newly established Albanian state in a largely Greek-speaking territory.{{cite book |last1=Hansen |first1=Inge Lyse |last2=Hodges |first2=Richard |last3=Leppard |first3=Sarah |title=Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town |date=2013 |publisher=Oxbow Books |isbn=978-1-84217-462-3 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3x-AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |language=en |quote=First it was isolated in a no mans land on the southern border of the new republic of Albania in a largely Greek-speaking territory.}} The local Greek population was enraged and created an Autonomous Republic of Northern Epirus, for six months, before it was reluctantly ceded to Albania, with peace assured by Italian peacekeeping force until 1919.{{cite book| last = Hodges | first = Richard | title = The Archaeology of Mediterranean Placemaking: Butrint and the Global Heritage Industry| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=65gnDQAAQBAJ| publisher = Bloomsbury Academic| date=November 2016| page = 23| isbn = 978-1350006621}} Italy rejected the decision because it didn't want Greece to control both sides of the Straits of Corfu.{{cite book| last1 = Lyse Hansen| first1 = Inge| last2 = Hodges| first2 = Richard| last3 = Leppard| first3 = Sarah| title = Butrint 4: The Archaeology and Histories of an Ionian Town| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2X9-AwAAQBAJ| publisher = Oxbow Books| date=January 2013| pages = 2, 309| isbn = 978-1842174623}}

File:Butrint-Basilica-20071001.jpg

In the early 6th century, Buthrotum became the seat of a bishopric and new construction included the Buthrotum baptistery, one of the largest such paleochristian buildings of its type, and a basilica. The diocese of Buthrotum was initially a suffragan of the Metropolis of Nicopolis, the metropolitan capital of Epirus Vetus and in the papal sway, but in the 9th and 10th centuries it is listed with the suffragans of Naupaktos, which succeeded ruined Nicopolis as provincial capital and metropolis of the new Byzantine theme of Nicopolis,Heinrich Gelzer, [https://archive.org/stream/abhandlungenbay06klasgoog#page/n596/mode/1up Ungedruckte und ungenügend veröffentlichte Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum], in: Abhandlungen der philosophisch-historische classe der Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1901, p. 557, nº 564. bringing it in the sway of the Byzantine Patriarchate of Constantinople. After the 14th century, it was under the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Ioannina.

Two of its Byzantine (pre-Eastern Schism) bishops are mentioned in extant documents:

• Stephanus signed the joint letter of the bishops of Epirus Vetus to Emperor Leo I the Thracian in the aftermath of the killing of Patriarch Proterius of Alexandria in 458
• Matthaeus signed the synodal letter of the bishops of the province to Pope Hormisdas in 516 concerning the ordination of Metropolitan John of Nicopolis.Pius Bonifacius Gams, [http://www.wbc.poznan.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=65154&dirids=1 Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae], Leipzig 1931, p. 430Michel Lequien, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_86weAemI-e4C Oriens christianus in quatuor Patriarchatus digestus], Paris 1740, Vol. II, coll. 139-142Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, [http://sul-derivatives.stanford.edu/derivative?CSNID=00002716&mediaType=application/pdf vol. 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190709140633/http://sul-derivatives.stanford.edu/derivative?CSNID=00002716&mediaType=application%2Fpdf |date=2019-07-09 }}, p. 143 It became a Latin Church see under Angevin and Venetian rule.

A Latin see was established circa 1250 under the Italian name Butrinto, functioning under Angevin and Venetian rule, but suppressed circa 1400. The 6th-century basilica was rebuilt by king Charles I of Naples in 1267.

File:ALB0074-2012r.jpg banknote]]

;Known Latin bishops

• Nicola, O.P. (? – 1311.02.15)
• Nicola, O.P. (1311.05.23 – ?)
• Nicola da Offida, O.F.M. (? – 1349.06.15)
• Francesco (? – ?)
• Arnaldo Simone (? – 1355.02.13)
• Giacomo, O.P. (1356.10.12 – ?)
• Lazzarino, O.F.M. (1366.02.09 – ?)

Buthrotum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a Latin titular see Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 {{ISBN|978-88-209-9070-1}}), p. 855 since the diocese was nominally restored in 1933 as titular bishopric of Buthrotum (Latin) / Butrinto (Curiate Italian) / Butrint (Albanian).

Following titular bishops have been nominated:

• Louis-Bertrand Tirilly, SS.CC. (1953.11.16 – 1966.06.21) as last Apostolic Vicar of Marquesas Islands
• George Frendo (7. 7. 2006 – 17. 11. 2016), O.P., Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Tiranë–Durrës (Albania) (7. 7. 2006 – 17. 11. 2016), also Secretary General of Episcopal Conference of Albania (2016.05.05 – ...)
• Friar Giovanni Salonia, O.F.M. Cap., (10. 2. 2017 – resigned 27. 4. 2017) as Auxiliary Bishop of Archdiocese of Palermo
• Zdeněk Wasserbauer (* 16. 6. 1965), Auxiliary Bishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Prague, since 19. 5. 2018

File:Arte romana, statua di soldato, I secolo ac- I dc, da butrinto.JPG

The first modern archaeological excavations began in 1928 when the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini's Italy 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 the Second World War. They uncovered the Hellenistic and Roman part of the city including the "Lion Gate" and the "Scaean Gate" (named by Ugolini for the famous gate at Troy mentioned in the Homeric Iliad).

After the communist government of Enver Hoxha took Albania over in 1944, foreign archaeological missions were banned. Albanian archaeologists including Hasan 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 the Butrint 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 the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. A major political and economic crisis in 1997 and lobbying stopped the airport plan and UNESCO placed it on the List of World Heritage in Danger because of looting, lack of protection, management and conservation. Archaeological missions during 1994–9 uncovered further Roman villas and an early Christian church.

In 2004,{{Cite web|last=Dame|first=Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre|title=David - Hernandez // Department of Classics // University of Notre Dame|url=https://classics.nd.edu/faculty/david-hernandez/|access-date=2020-09-20|website=Department of Classics|language=en}} archaeological excavations continued under principal investigator, David R. Hernandez.{{Cite journal|last=Hernandez|first=David R.|date=2017|title=Bouthrotos (Butrint) in the Archaic and Classical Periods: The Acropolis and Temple of Athena Polias|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.86.2.0205|journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens|volume=86|issue=2|pages=205–271|doi=10.2972/hesperia.86.2.0205|jstor=10.2972/hesperia.86.2.0205|s2cid=164963550 |issn=0018-098X|url-access=subscription}}

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.{{cite journal|last1=Miziri|first1=Ela |last2=Meshini |first2=Mariglen |last3=Zoto|first3=Rudina|title=Butrint National Park 'Integrated Management Plan' – Combining Natural Park with Cultural Heritage|journal=Internet Archaeology|date=2023|issue=62|doi=10.11141/ia.62.2|doi-access=free|url=https://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue62/2/index.html}}

The site of Butrint is accessible from Sarandë, along a road first built in 1959 for a visit by the Soviet leader Nikita 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 between the New Port in Corfu Town and Saranda. Many visitors from Corfu use chartered coach services to visit Butrint from Sarandë, and additionally, a regular public bus service runs between Sarandë port and Butrint. Others arrive from the Qafe Bote border crossing with Greece near Konispol and cross the Vivari Channel by the cable ferry at Butrint.

Butrint Panorama.jpg |

File:Butrint-111183.jpg|

File:Butrint-111185.jpg|

File:Butrint-111187.jpg|

File:Butrint-111189.jpg|

File:Butrint-111190.jpg|

File:Butrint-111192.jpg|

File:Butrint-111194.jpg|

File:Butrint-111196.jpg|

File:Butrint-111198.jpg|

File:Butrint-111200.jpg|

File:Butrint-111202.jpg|

File:Butrint-111204.jpg|

• Saint Therinus, 3rd-century saint
• Donatus of Euroea, 4th-century saint

• Venetian Acropolis Castle
• Venetian Triangular Castle
• Lake Butrint
• Channel of Vivari
• Butrint National Park
• List of Catholic dioceses in Albania
• List of cities in ancient Epirus
• [https://butrint.nd.edu/ Excavations of the Roman Forum at Butrint]

{{Reflist}}

{{commons}}

• [http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0363.htm GCatholic with incumbent bio links]
• [https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/butrint-archaeological-park-898b534daa6b409aafe4235dbf63eac5 3D model] of Butrint Archaeological Park

{{Wikivoyage|Butrint}}

{{EB1911 poster|Butrinto}}

{{EB1911 poster|Buthrotum}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150801042730/http://butrint.al/ Butrint National Park]
• [http://www.butrintfoundation.co.uk The Butrint Foundation]
• [http://www.butrinti2000.com Butrinti 2000 International Festival of Theater]
• [http://www.shqiperia.com/foto/butrinti2.php Photo Albums]
• [http://tripandtravelblog.com/a-good-reason-to-visit-albania-butrint/ Visiting Butrint]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140903204835/https://www.dadajoe.com/b/butrint/ Butrint in Albania]

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040209055819/http://www.historychannel.com/classroom/unesco/butrint.html More information] on Butrint from The History Channel
• [http://www.albanian.com/information/history/roman.html Rome and Albanian history] from Albania.com
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6278418.stm Albania's Long-lost Roman City], BBC
• [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7980174.stm In Pictures: Sights of Butrint], BBC
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110721045040/http://www.socher.org/gallery2/v/albania/butrinti/ 176 photos from the archeological site of Butrint]
• [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_projects/complete_projects/coins_from_butrint.aspx Coins from Butrint: Numismatic research on archaeological excavation - The British Museum]

• Ceka N., Butrint: A guide to the city and its monuments (Migjeni Books) Tirana 2005)
• Crowson A., "Butrint from the Air", in Current World Archaeology 14 (2006).
• Hansen, Inge Lyse and Richard Hodges, eds., Roman Butrint: An Assessment. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007.
• {{citation | last1 = Hodges | first1 = R. | last2 = Bowden | first2 = W. | last3 = Lako | first3 = K. | title = Byzantine Butrint: Excavations and Surveys 1994–99 | publisher = Oxbow Books | location = Oxford | year = 2004 | url = http://www.kroraina.com/varia/butr/butrint_2004.pdf}}
• 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)

{{Navboxes

| title = 20x20px Topics related to Butrint

| titlestyle = color:black; background-color:white;

|list1=

{{World Heritage Sites in Albania}}

{{National parks of Albania}}

{{Albanian Riviera}}

{{Northern Epirus}}

{{Castles in Albania}}

}}

{{Portal bar|Architecture|History|Society}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Albanian Ionian Sea Coast

Category:World Heritage Sites in Albania

Category:Albania in the Roman era

Category:Cities in ancient Epirus

Category:Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Albania

Category:Populated places established in the 1st millennium BC

Category:Former populated places in the Balkans

Category:Populated places in Sarandë

Category:Chaonia

Category:Roman sites in Albania

Category:World Heritage Sites in Danger

Category:Protected areas established in 2005

Category:Buildings and structures in Vlorë County

Category:Tourist attractions in Vlorë County

Category:Geography of Vlorë County

Category:Butrint National Park

Category:Populated places in ancient Epirus