Butrint National Park

About Butrint National Park

By the ULTIMATE Tirana Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, was a Greek city of the Chaonians, then a Roman colony and a Byzantine bishopric, abandoned in the Middle Ages after an earthquake flooded much of it. Its ruins span 2,500 years: a Greek theatre, Roman baths and houses, a Byzantine baptistery with mosaic floors, usually covered, a basilica, Venetian walls and a museum on the acropolis, all in woods by the Vivari Channel. Go early in summer.

Twenty-five centuries on one hill

Butrint began as a settlement of the Chaonians, a Greek tribe of Epirus, and became a city with a theatre and a sanctuary of Asclepius. It was later a Roman colony, then the seat of an early Christian bishopric. In late antiquity it declined, and in the Middle Ages it was abandoned after an earthquake flooded much of it. Venetians and Ottomans later fortified parts of the site.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992, it is one of the most important archaeological sites in Albania.

Greek theatre, Roman baths, a Byzantine baptistery and Venetian walls, all in a forest by a lagoon.

Walking the site

A loop path leads through woods and past the Greek theatre, the Roman baths and houses, a large basilica, the baptistery with its famous mosaic floor, usually kept covered under sand to protect it, the Lion Gate and the Venetian walls. On the acropolis a small museum tells the story. Across the Vivari Channel stands the Ali Pasha Castle.

Practical

Butrint is about fourteen kilometres south of Sarandë, close to the Greek border, and easy to reach by bus or taxi. In summer it gets very hot, and mosquitoes like the lagoon.

Our advice: arrive at opening time, allow two to three hours, bring water and insect repellent, and spend the afternoon on the beaches at Ksamil.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Butrint National Park before you go.