Albania has never been the most popular destination even for independent travelers.
Call it communist or perhaps Cold War stigma from pre-1990s, but visitors remain relatively scarce and even fewer would travel the length of Albania from south to north. My Italian coworker knew only of its cheap beach resorts along the Adriatic coast, and nobody could advise us of what to expect as we walked up to the immigration counter at Saranda's port.
Part of the fun -- aside from Corfu's wildly disorganized port -- was to arrive at Saranda before the vessel even departed Corfu. That's right -- our hydrofoil departed Corfu at 09:40 and arrived at Saranda at 09:25, after adjusting to Albanian time which was one hour behind Greece.
And Saranda itself was not our destination. As evocative as the 5th century synagogue ruins at its city centre may be, everything pales in comparison to nearby Butrint, one of the best preserved Roman towns of its era and one of Albania's national treasures.
Most visitors based in Corfu would arrive at Saranda's port and do Butrint as a day-trip. Except we had to start traveling north after visiting Butrint and, most importantly, had no place to stash our heavy luggage at Saranda. We ended up pre-booking a taxi with our friendly driver Mario, traveling directly from Saranda port to Butrint then onward to the enchanting Ottoman town of Gjirokaster.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site in the same order as Olympia or Delphi south of the Greek border, the ruins of Butrint is a microcosm of Balkan history in its transformation from an ancient Greek colony to thriving Roman and subsequently Byzantine town to Venetian and Ottoman outpost, before being rediscovered as an archeological treasure in the modern era.
Even the most uninitiated visitor would be charmed by Butrint's natural setting, built on reclaimed marshland a few kilometres off the island of Corfu and surrounded by the turquoise waters of a National Park. The neighbouring brackish lagoon that bears the same name produces Albania's best mussels, available at any fish restaurant along this Ionian coast.
Designated a colony for Roman army veterans by Julius Caesar and later Emperor Augustus, Butrint was a a well-resourced town with its own aqueducts, multiple public bathhouses, theatre, gymnasium, nymphaeum and numerous temples all packed within a defensible circular fortress, a few hundred metres in diameter.
The Romans were not the first to arrive. The oldest standing structure is a Greek theatre from 4th century BC, designed for 1500 spectators with its 19 rows of marble seats. Like similar theatres in Delphi and Olympia, the stage is still used occasionally for everything from dance performances to beauty pageants.
The Roman town was inherited by the Byzantines who built the Great Basilica in the 6th century and fortified it with two flanking defensive towers. It would be used as a place of worship by the town's primarily Greek-speaking population for the next thousand years.
Most spectacular is a 1500-year-old Byzantine baptistry with a perfectly concentric circular array of marble columns and a gorgeous floor of mosaics depicting peacocks and various creatures. Unfortunately the mosaics are currently covered with a natural layer of sand for protection until a permanent solution is engineered, and visitors can only admire the reproductions in the museum.
With the depiction of a ferocious lion taking down a bull, the Lion Gate was one of few entrances to a well-defended acropolis featuring a multitude of land gates and one amphibious gate for naval access from the salt water channel that acts as the town's natural moat.
Remnants of several public baths are identifiable by their characteristic central heating system, a feat of Roman engineering in which hot air was circulated beneath the floors to provide hot water for the citizens' enjoyment. Stagnant water still fills some of these baths, now enjoyed by the resident turtles.
Twenty years ago UNESCO relegated Butrint to the list of World Heritage Sites in Danger amidst reports of looting and mismanagement as Albania became embroiled in civil unrest, precipitated by the mass collapse of pyramid schemes. Since then the government has done an admirable job of resisting the seduction of resort and casino developers, and the site now receives half a million visitors per year, most arriving on guided tours from Corfu.
Most visitors end their visit at the archeological museum atop the acropolis, housed inside an 800-year-old Venetian castle now flying an Albanian flag with its double-headed eagle. Fascinating artifacts aside the museum also offers panoramic views of another Venetian castle across the narrow channel, and the pristine blue waters that connect the lagoon to the Mediterranean.
On the way back I spotted the rarest seal in the world -- and yes, I know how strange this sounds -- while standing at the shore next to Butrint's parking lot.
I don't know whether this was a testament to the national park's ecological protection, or perhaps a total coincidence. But as a Canadian I know a seal when I see one, and this puppy was sticking its head out spying on those funny humans. Too bad it disappeared before I had the chance to whip out my camera.
On the way to Gjirokaster I did consult Mario, who thought I was either joking or hallucinating about the seal. But I later googled it up, and Butrint National Park is listed as one of the world's few remaining sanctuaries for the Mediterranean monk seal.
And Wikipedia is never wrong, right?
IF YOU GO
Butrint is a popular day-trip from Corfu with organized tours from numerous agencies, though it would be cheaper to simply take the hydrofoil to Saranda then transfer to a local minibus, currently departing from a street corner just 300m north of the ferry terminal. Alternatively you could splurge on a private taxi like we did and visit Gjirokaster as well. Leave me a message with your email below if you need our trusty driver's contact info.
