Butrint

Butrint is probably the highlight of the trip - a UNESCO world heritage site with overlays of remains from 4C BC through to 16C AD. Mercifully the weather today was a mix of cloud and sun so our 4 hour walk round the site was not too hot. Here the indigenous tribes were Epirotes rather than Illyrians. Their material culture was identical but the Illyrians spoke Illyrian and the Epirotes spoke Greek. As usual the earliest remains are the massive stone walls but here there are some sections with polygonal shaped bigstones expertly fitted together. There is a lovely small Greek/ Roman theatre outside which there are many stones carved with the names of freed slaves. There are Greek and Roman shrines and fountains with mosaic. One circular building from 6C AD is a baptistry with a beautiful mosaic that we cannot see because it is covered over to preserve it.Read more