Butrint National Park (Albanian: Parku Kombëtar i Butrintit) is a national park in Vlorë County, southern Albania. It is located 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Sarandë. The park covers 9,424 hectares (94.24 square kilometers) of hilly land with freshwater lakes, wetlands, salt marshes, open plains, reed beds, and islands. The park is important for protecting wildlife, as it is home to more than 1,200 different animal and plant species. Its purpose includes protecting Lake Butrint and the lagoon, the natural channel of Vivari, the islands of Ksamil, and an archaeological site that contains remains from ancient civilizations.
Butrint is located in the eastern part of the Strait of Corfu, in the southernmost part of Albania. It is spread across a peninsula surrounded by Lake Butrint and the Vivari Channel. The channel connects the lake to the Ionian Sea through a narrow sandy area. Because the park is close to the sea, it has a mild Mediterranean climate. This means winters are mild, and summers are hot and dry.
The archaeological heritage of Butrint is one of the most important sites in the country. It contains many artifacts and structures from the Iron Age up to the Middle Ages. Many ancient buildings remain, including city walls, a late-antique baptistery, a large basilica, a Roman theater, and two castles. The ancient city is located in a natural woodland area with ecosystems that depend on the nearby lake and channel. The combination of cultural landmarks and natural environments makes Butrint a unique place.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified the park as Category II. In 1992, the archaeological site was added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The lagoon has also been recognized as an internationally important wetland under the Ramsar Convention. Additionally, Lake Butrint is an Important Bird and Plant Area because it supports many bird and plant species of global significance.
Administration
The Butrint National Park was created by ordinance number 82 on March 2, 2000, to protect natural ecosystems, landscapes, plant and animal life, and cultural heritage. The park’s area grew larger over time, reaching its current size in 2005. It is managed by a directorate under the Ministry of Environment of Albania, based in Sarandë. The park became an important place for managing cultural heritage and showed how to care for such heritage effectively. With help from Albanian institutions, the Butrint Foundation, the World Bank, and UNESCO, the site improved enough for UNESCO to remove it from the World Heritage Sites in Danger list in 2005. The park was created by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with UNESCO, ICCROM, and ICOMOS. The goal was to create a lasting cultural heritage resource that included local communities and national groups, serving as a model for other parks in the country.
Today, Butrint is a major center for archaeology and conservation training. Schools are organized by the Butrint Foundation with the Albanian Institutes of Archaeology and Monuments, foreign universities, and international experts. The park also hosts events like theater performances, concerts, and outreach programs for local schools and colleges. In 2010, national authorities removed over 200 illegal buildings in Ksamil that broke the town’s master plan and harmed the park’s integrity. The remains of these buildings have not yet been cleared by officials.
Geography
Butrint National Park covers an area of 9,424.4 hectares (94.244 square kilometers) in Vlorë County, located in the southwestern part of Albania near the Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean Basin. The park is mostly found between latitudes 39° and 44° N and longitudes 20° and 1° E. By road, the ruins of Butrint are about 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of the city of Sarandë and a few kilometers north of the border between Albania and Greece. According to the Köppen climate classification, the park has a Mediterranean climate (Csa and Csb), with rainy winters and dry, warm to hot summers. Located in the southern part of Albania’s Ionian Sea Coast, the park receives about 1,500 millimeters (59 inches) of rainfall each year.
Butrint is part of a network of water systems, including rivers, lagoons, and lakes. The rivers are short, steep, and have high water flow. The park includes Lake Butrint in the northwest, Lake Bufi in the southeast, the Bistrica River in the north, Mile Mountain in the west, and the Pavllo River in the south.
Lake Butrint is the largest lake and has water conditions similar to those found in coastal lagoons. It is 7.1 kilometers (4.4 miles) long and 3.3 kilometers (2.1 miles) wide, with a surface area of 16.3 square kilometers (6.29 square miles). The lake’s water has moderate nutrients but shows signs of higher nutrient levels. Its water is divided into two distinct layers. The Vivari Channel connects the lake to the Ionian Sea. Lake Bufi is located about 2 meters (0.0012 miles) above the Adriatic Sea in the southeast of Lake Butrint, with a total surface area of 83 hectares (0.83 square kilometers). Its extra water flows into southern Lake Butrint through a former channel.
Biodiversity
The park's location is a major reason for the wide variety of animals and plants found there. This is because the area has many different types of land and water features, and habitats are spread out in a mixed arrangement. The park is part of the Illyrian deciduous forests ecoregion, which is found in the Palearctic Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub region. The presence of rivers, lakes, and wetlands, shaped by the land's features, greatly influences the number of living things in the area. The park has more than 800 to 900 species of vertebrates, which make up 27% of all species found in Albania.
The shallow coastal lagoons have rocky areas and large mussel beds, with water deeper than in other parts. These areas are covered with dense grasses like phragmites and typha latifolia. Underwater grasses such as zostera noltei and ruppia cirrhosa also grow there. Evergreen forests cover most of the area in the archaeological site and on the southern and eastern slopes of Sotira. These forests are divided into three distinct layers. The top layer has holly oak and bay laurel, which grow more than other plants like field elm, narrow-leafed ash, and valonia oak. The middle layer includes plants like elmleaf blackberry, common hawthorn, evergreen rose, common ivy, and italian leather flower. The bottom layer is made up of plants such as wild asparagus, hedge bedstraw, lesser celandine, and purple loosestrife.
Posidonia oceanica grows mostly along the shallow sea floor from Stillo Cap to Cuka Channel, while cymodocea nodosa and zostera noltei are found near the mouth of the Pavllo River. Along cliffs, the salty environment and rocky ground have limited the variety of plant life. These areas include plants like crithmum, elymus pycnanthus, and golden samphire.
The park has more than 400 species of animals living in its different habitats. These include 39 species of mammals, 246 species of birds, 25 species of reptiles, 10 species of amphibians, and 105 species of fish. The forests and shrublands in the park are a safe place for 39 mammal species, 14 of which are endangered worldwide. The beech marten lives near the edges of woodlands and open hills. The golden jackal and red fox are found in grasslands, eating small rodents, while the grey wolf is only present during winter. The otter, which is protected by international laws, lives in the park's streams and lakes.
Coastal waters near the park are home to dolphins like the common bottlenose dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, and sometimes the striped dolphin. The park is one of the last places where the endangered Mediterranean monk seal nests, as it lives in rocks and caves. Sea turtles are often seen in the park's shallow waters, including the loggerhead sea turtle and leatherback sea turtle, both of which are endangered or threatened.
The park has over 246 bird species living in different areas. Some birds live there year-round, while others travel through the Adriatic flyway. Important birds include the golden eagle, peregrine falcon, rock partridge, golden oriole, and common buzzard. The bays and estuaries along the Ionian Sea are winter homes for birds like the common pochard, great cormorant, great crested grebe, eurasian coot, and black-headed gull. Reed beds are used by common moorhen, water rail, hen harrier, western marsh harrier, moustached warbler, and remiz pendulinus. Marshes provide food for little egret, grey plover, european golden plover, and dunlin. Many waterbirds gather in coastal marshes, such as the eurasian curlew, common redshank, and sandwich tern.
There are 10 species of amphibians in the park, which live mainly in forests and bushes. Common species include the fire salamander, northern crested newt, common toad, and greek stream frog. The park has a high number of reptiles, with 25 species found there. These include the balkan green lizard, slowworm, and aesculapian snake.
The park's waters are home to 105 species of fish. The most common include the flathead grey mullet, thinlip mullet, thicklip grey mullet, european eel, european hake, and crucian carp.
Attractions
The rich history of Butrint has left important remains across the park’s area. The main buildings in the park include a Roman theatre, the Dionysus altar, the Nymphaeum, the Thermae, the Gymnasium, the Forum, the Aqueduct, the temples of Minerva and Asclepius, the Lion Gate, and a Baptistery. These are located in southern Albania and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.
The Roman theatre of Butrint is one of the best-preserved buildings in the town. It is located just below the Acropolis and faces the Vivari Channel. The theatre was built in the 3rd century BC, possibly on top of an older, smaller theatre. During the Roman period, it was renovated and expanded many times. Builders added seating areas for the upper class above the two entrances. The auditorium was also enlarged to fit more people as the town grew.
The Castle of Ali Pasha Tepelena is on a small island at the mouth of the Vivari Channel. It is named after Ali Pasha of Ioannina, an Albanian ruler who controlled the Pashalik of Yanina and tried to compete with the Dey of Algiers on the sea. The castle is a small, rectangular building with damaged walls. At each corner, there are two round towers with cannons on the side facing the sea and two square towers with windows used for firing weapons.
Another major attraction is the Lion Gate, one of six entrances to the city built in the 4th century BC. The gate’s inscriptions show a lion about to eat a bull. The lion represents the city’s people, and the bull represents their enemies. The gate has a narrow passage to allow only a few people to enter at the same time.
In the west of the park, the rocky Islands of Ksamil stretch out and are only reachable by boat. Two of the islands are connected by a narrow strip of sand. Dolphins, such as the short-beaked common dolphin and the common bottlenose dolphin, are often seen in the surrounding waters.