Butrint - National Park the place to be

If anyone for any reason has doubt about Albania, these are just a few reason to change your mind about it. After seeing this national park which is protected by UNESCO your mind will be blown away.

The area around the antique town of Butrint in southern Albania is not only home to several globally threatened species, but has also a rich cultural history, justifying its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The National Park comprises a high diversity of natural, semi-natural and artificial habitats, such as freshwater marshes, reed beds, Mediterranean forests and maquis, arable lands and fruit-tree terraces, as well as coastal waters with rocky and sandy coast, open halophytic lands, etc. These habitats shelter a high diversity of animals and plants, including species of global and regional concern, which make the Butrint area one of the most important areas for biodiversity in Albania.

The ancient town of Butrint was first proclaimed Cultural Monument in 1948; in 1999 it was registered in the World Heritage list of UNESCO; in 2003 the wetland complex, including a part of the lagoon and the coastal area of Butrint – Stillo Cape – was proclaimed a Ramsar Site and a National Park (Category II of the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories). Due to its importance for the preservation of archaeological and historical heritage, Butrint was designated in 1992 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cultural importance of the landscape and archaeological setting was recognized by the enlargement of the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation to incorporate an area of 2900 ha.

The Butrint Natural Park

The Park is of great importance for the conservation of global biodiversity as it is the site of 16 endangered species of flora and 14 globally endangered species of fauna. The wetlands area is shaped by a tectonic lagoon of 1600 ha, known as Lake Butrint, surrounded by forested hills, mountains, freshwater and brackish marshes and connected to the straits of Corfu by the Vivari canal. The “Lake” has an average depth of 14 m (maximum 22 m), while the natural channel of Vivari is up to 100 m wide. The archaeological remains of Butrint are part of the natural woodland with a complex ecosystem which depends on the nearby freshwater Lake Butrint and Vivari Channel which drain the lake into the Ionian. It is this combination of historic monuments and natural environment that makes Butrint such a unique place, a landscape with monuments beloved of the Grand Tourists of the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Butrint area supports 16 endangered species of flora including Agrimonia eupatoria, Capparis spinosa and Laurus nobilis. The area also holds 12 rare species such as Alkano corcyrensis SE and Limonium anfracium and 4 insufficiently known species such as Scabiosa epirota. The park supports globally endangered species (two critically endangered species, two endangered and ten vulnerable) such as the Rhinolophus and the Myotis. Butrint supports 17% of Albania’s species; the park is particularly impressive for its amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals (including the wolf) and is the only site in Albania to support the Epirote frog, tortoise, sand boa and the Balkan wall lizard. Butrint Bay and the Vrina Marshes are important feeding and roosting grounds for birds. During the winter, flocks of waders use the shallow waters, including European curlew, redshank, grey plover and dunlin. In 2003 it became a Ramsar Wetlands Site of International Importance.

Myths and history of Butrint

Butrint is a microcosm of Mediterranean history, representing the rise and fall of the great empires that dominated the region. Today it is an amalgam of monuments representing a span of over two thousand years from the Hellenistic temple buildings of the 4th century B.C. to the Ottoman defenses created in the early 19th century. According to classical mythology, Buthrotum was founded by exiles fleeing the fall of Troy. On arrival, Priam’s son Helenus sacrificed an ox, which struggled ashore wounded and died on the beach. Taking this as a good omen, the place was named Buthrotum meaning “wounded ox”.