Butrint: City of Mosaics

The World Heritage site of Butrint, located in southwest Albania on the Mediterranean Sea, is a unique blend of Greek and Roman and Byzantine and Venetian architecture, a result of its long and checkered history. The site was first occupied during the Bronze Age, about 800 BC. A large triangular fort was built in the 6th century BC, and by the 4th century BC, Butrint had become a substantial settlement, its acropolis perched 42 meters above its lower city holding two temples, one a sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius, legendary Greek physician and son of the god Apollo and Coronis. A Greek ampitheatre seating 5000 was added in the 3rd century BC.

Butrint's Roman Colonization

In 44 BC, at the end of the conflict between Pompey and Caesar, Caesar declared Butrint a colony, and it remained a Roman port through the 6th century AD. A large edifice known as the Triconch Palace was first built during the 4th century AD. During the 5th century AD, the emperor Justinian built a large cathedral and a baptistry with exquisite mosaic flooring at the site. But by 650, the population had largely abandoned the townsite.

After the Romans

The remainder of Butrint's history mirrors that of other Mediterranean ports; a succession of owners and occupants, including Normans, Venetians, Angevins, Byzantines, and finally the Ottomans, who continued to build and rebuild the city's architecture.

Architectural pieces of Butrint that exist today include the Greek theatre, monumental fountains, three public baths, a gymnasium decorated with mosaics, and an aqueduct built by Augustus, and the exquisite mosaic floors of the Triconch Palace, a Byzantine structure which has most recently been excavated by archaeological teams from the Albanian Institute of Archaeology, the Butrint Foundation, and university students from the Tirana University.

Sources

This report was originally written based on Richard Hodges' article in Minerva:
Richard Hodges. 2001. Butrint 2000: Excavating a world heritage site in Albania. Minerva 12(4):46-51.

And in 2006, a new article appeared in Archaeology magazine, an online form of which is provided here:
Jarrett Lobell. 2006. Ages of Albania. Archaeology Magazine 59(2).