The Butrint Foundation

BUTRINT: A World Heritage Site

1972	Word Heritage List introduced by the UNESCO
1989	Albania ratified the convention of 1972
1990	Butrint was nominated as a World Heritage Site
1991	Butrint's nomination was deferred
1992	Butrint designated as a World Heritage Site
1997	Butrint was put on the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger
1998	Office for the protection of the World Heritage Site of Butrint created
1999	Extension of the Butrint protected zone
2000	Butrint National Park established
2003	Inscribed on the Ramsar
2005	Butrint removed from World Heritage Site in Danger list

In 1972 UNESCO, the United Nations' Scientific, Educational and Cultural Organisation, adopted the Convention ‘Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage' and under its auspices introduced the World Heritage List. Butrint was nominated as a World Heritage Site in 1990 but in May 1991 ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, recommended that its inclusion be deferred to await verification of various definitions and plans relating to its protection. By 1992 ICOMOS was satisfied that all the protective requirements were in place and they recommended that Butrint – the intramural area covering 16 hectares - be included on the World Heritage List on the basis of Criterion iii.

Criterion iii: The evolution of the old natural environment which led the inhabitants to abandon Butrint at the end of the Middle Ages, means that this archaeological site provides valuable evidence of ancient and medieval civilizations on the territory of modern Albania.

In 1997 civil unrest prompted ICOMOS to recommend that further action regarding the protection of the site was essential and Butrint was put on the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger. As a result a workshop for the definition of the past, present and future of the site was held in 1998 which led to the Albanian Government creating an office for the protection of the Butrint Site. In 1999 ICOMOS asked to extend the buffer zone of the site for fear of uncontrolled tourist development in a small area on the coast. The protected zone was therefore extended under the existing criterion (iii) on condition that the State Party withdrew plans for this development. The establishment of the Butrint National Park in 2000 gave the site new legal status and protected an area of 29 km², managed by the appointment of a director. It is possible that Butrint may be removed off the sites in danger list by the UNESCO who will report on their findings in July 2005.

Butrint's significance as described by the UNESCO (2004): 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.

BUTRINT: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
[ Click here for location map ]

Butrint is situated on a low promontory on the southwest coast of Albania. The site has been occupied since at least the 8th century BC, although myths associated with its origins speak of the city's foundation by Trojan exiles. By the 4th century BC a walled settlement was established and the city became a successful cult site, dedicated to Aesclepius. Augustus founded a colony at Butrint and the town seems to have remained a relatively small Roman port until the 6th century. Little is known of the site between the 7th and 9th centuries. Its later medieval history was turbulent as the town was involved first in the power struggles between Byzantium and successive Norman, Angevin and Venetian states and second in the conflict between Venice and the Ottoman Turks. By the early 19th century it had dwindled to a small fishing village clustered around a Venetian castle.

Butrint is undeniably a beautiful place. Close to modern civilization yet with its monuments in thick woodland, it is reminiscent of the age of 19th-century tourism. Set in a marshy landscape between Lake Butrint, an inland lagoon, and the busy straits separating Corfu from Albania, it is an environmental haven rich in birdlife.

ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT CITY AND ITS HINTERLAND
Archaeological investigation of the site was begun by an Italian mission in the 1920s, and was continued under the post-war communist government of Albania. Since 1994 excavations have been undertaken by the Albanian Institute of Archaeology and IWA (working under the auspices of the Butrint Foundation). The archaeological investigation of Butrint has involved a combination of evaluation, excavation, field survey, geomorphology, geophysical survey and archival research. Key areas of excavation include a late-antique palatial dwelling known as the Triconch Palace, the spectacular late-antique baptistery, a Roman villa and associated late-antique church at Diaporit (a possible location of the villa of Cicero's correspondent Atticus), and a major suburb of the town, located on the plain in front of the walled city.

ARCHIVES
Documentation, photographs, film footage and oral history help to direct future research and to contribute to modern excavation reports. Work is in progress to develop an on-line electronic archive that will make the material accessible to all.