TIRANA, Feb. 2 – The ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1992, has been recommended by a prestigious British portal as one of Europe’s top 12 unexplored destinations.
The Culture Trip, a UK-based one-stop digital platform for global culture and lifestyle, has recently suggested Butrint as one of the “top 12 historical destinations in Europe you didn’t know about.”
The platform which in 2014 won the UK Website of the Year Award for Arts & Culture, recommends Albania’s biggest archeological park to travelers looking for something a little different and getting away from the tourist traps and hordes of people looking at the same old sites.
Butrint, although mistakenly described as a site in northern Albania, at a time when it is situated in southernmost Albania, is portrayed as a ruined Greek and Roman city which grew considerably under Roman control.
“Buthrotum, or Butrint in Albanian, is a ruined Greek and Roman city in what is today northern Albania, not far from the Greek border. The city grew considerably during the period of Roman control after Caesar who designated it a colony for veterans of the wars against Pompey the Great. Augustus later renewed those plans and expanded the city, building an aqueduct, forum, theatre and nymphaeum. The city size doubled and thrived until its decline during the period of the Later Empire. Today the site has been excavated, and is open to visitors as part of the Butrint National Park,” says the Culture Trip.
Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city’s development.
Excavations carried out by Albanian and foreign expeditions continue shedding light on the ancient settlement. In 1992, Butrint was designated as a World Heritage Site – a status that identifies cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value.
The National Park was established in 2000 affording Butrint full protection within Albanian law. The original 26 sq km of the park boundaries were in 2005 expanded to 86 sq km.
The amphitheatre, dating from the 3rd century BC, bears witness to the cultural riches of the city, the stone banks of seating, of which 23 rows have been preserved, would have held an audience of 1,500, says UNESCO. The theatre is situated at the foot of the acropolis, close by two temples, one of which is dedicated to Asclepios, the Greek god of medicine, who was worshipped by the city’s inhabitants.
Excavations have brought the light to many objects – plates, vases, ceramic candlesticks – as well as sculptures including a remarkable ‘Goddess of Butrint’ which seems to completely embody, in the perfection of its features, the Greek ideal of physical beauty.
