Archaeological Park of Butrint

Butrinti is located on a low hill at the bottom of the Ksamil peninsula surrounded by the waters of Lake
Butrint, which connects to the lonian Sea via the Vivar Canal. Ancient geographer Strabo informs us that the lake was called Pelodes and the cape near Butrint, Poseidon. It was at the same time the center of the Parasaiboi coinon (163-44 BC), part of the Epirote province of Chaonia. The first archaeological record for Butrint belongs to the Italian humanist Qirjakos of Ancona, who visited the site in 1435. At the beginning of the 19th century it is also visited and described by W.M.
Leak, F.C.L.H Pouqeville, E. Isambert et al. One of the most important stages of archaeological research began in 1928, with archaeological excavations under the direction of Italian archaeologist L.M. Ugolini, who continued them until 1936, to continue after his death by P.
Markoni and D. Mustili until the 1940s. scholars of different periods such as Dhimosten Budina, Selim Islami, Skender Anamali, Neritan Ceka, Kosta Lako, Astrit Nanaj, Dhimiter Condi etc. In 1991, a joint Albanian-Greek project under the direction of N. Ceka, K. Hatzis and A. Nana would begin work on the Butrint Acropolis. In 1994 a major Albanian-English archaeological research project was launched under the direction of R. Hodges, with the support of Butrint Faundation.
Research at the Roman Forum would continue under the direction of American archaeologist
D. Hernandez. Butrint is mentioned in the written sources for the first time in the century VI BC in the work "Europe" by the geographer Hecateus of Millet. In its beginnings it was incorporated into the community of Chaones and later into the state of Epirus. Butrint became the main center of Prasaiboi territory with a number of towns and centers around it. At the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus he returned to the Roman colony. He later entered the Venetian possessions, from which he was detached by Ali Pasha Tepelena. With the fall of loannina, Butrint passed under Ottoman rule, which lasted until 1912. Archaeological research shows that the Butrint hill begins to be used and fortified in the archaic period, with different stages of development proving a continuation of life and use until at the end of Ottoman rule.