Sarandë and Butrint
Sarande and Butrint
In the south of the Albanian Riviera, opposite the Greek island of Corfu, lies the city of Sarande, the center of Albania’s Riviera. Winding streets descend from the hills surrounding the bay to the promenade on the beach. As elsewhere in Albania, the greenery here reaches down to the water. A selection of hotels, restaurants, and tea houses welcome guests, but unlike neighboring Greece, tourism in Albania is still underdeveloped, and the number of tourists is relatively small.
Sarande is an ancient city. A synagogue from 2,000 years ago was found here. It is named after a Byzantine monastery that once stood there—the Monastery of the Forty Saints. Two kilometers from Sarande lies Lëkurësi Castle, on a hilltop overlooking the bay. Sarande has a harbor with a ferry to Corfu.
butrint basilica Albania
Butrint Theater Albania
Not far from Sarande is Butrint, an ancient Greek city with an Ottoman castle. The first remains date back to the 12th century BC, and according to legend, it was founded by refugees from Troy. The city had ties with the Illyrians but was considered a Greek colony, which was later developed by the Romans. It includes an agora and a temple to Asclepius from the Greek period, a nymphaeum, an aqueduct, and a bathhouse from the Roman period, impressive churches from the Byzantine period, and the remains of medieval fortresses. But the most impressive remains are the walls with huge stones from the Illyrian-Greek period, including a small gate topped by a massive stone with a lion carved on it. Butrinti is located at the edge of a beautiful lagoon, on a stretch of coast between the lagoon and the sea. It is a good place to start and be impressed by the Cyclopean walls that characterize Illyrian antiquities.
Near Sarande, inland, is a large mound that was once the most important city in Epirus in ancient times. It now stands above a Greek-Albanian village called Finik. This was the center of the Chaonian tribe. You can see the remains of a theater there and walk along a trail from the parking lot among the antiquities, with spectacular views in the background.
Albania Butrint ferry
