Southern Albania

[caption id="attachment_2195" align="alignnone" width="660"] Southern Albania[/caption]

The river-like body of water is the Vivari channel. It surrounds Buthrotum and is passable only via raft. You may have seen it on the BBC's 5th Gear episode where they visited Albania to test the Rolls-Royce Ghost, Mercedes S65 AMG & Bentley Mulsanne. Seeing such cars on the raft there seemed like playing with fire.

The village in the close distance is Shendelli and the one on the far left is Xare. The pyramid shaped small mountain is the Cuka e Aitoit (Eagle's Peak) and it has been settled since ancient times. There lies the village of Ciflig which in Turkish translates as Property. After that is the village of Konispol, the shouthernmost village of Albania. Most of those villages are inhabited by Greek minorities. To cross to Greece you have to go through Qafebote's Customs. In English it means World's Neck. :) This is the last photo from the top of Buthrotum's Fortress.

End of the walls

[caption id="attachment_2189" align="alignnone" width="660"] End of the walls[/caption]

Walking around we reached the end of the city walls. Maybe they stretched down under the lake centuries ago...

Apollo's Head

[caption id="attachment_2186" align="alignnone" width="660"] Apollo's Head[/caption]

Although a replica, this is one of the best preserved statues found in Butrhotum. This replica is exposed on the entrance of the museum, on top of the hill. Far in the distance lay the ruins of on of Ali Pasha's fortresses. The mountain in the background is the island of Corfu. The archaeologist that discovered the head was so excited that they believed it was a woman's head. After carefully examining it, they came to conclusion it must be Apollo's head.

Stairs

[caption id="attachment_2175" align="alignnone" width="950"] Stairs[/caption]

Crossing the Lion Gate there is a well on the left. It has some Greek inscription on it, the name of the investor who restored it I think.

Lion Gate

[caption id="attachment_2168" align="alignnone" width="660"] Lion Gate[/caption]

The Lion Gate, with the depiction of a lion devouring the head of a bull. My son got so impressed he didn't want to leave. My wife sat down and I took the time to take some photos.

Further info regarding the Lion Gate can be found here. 

The Great Basilica

[caption id="attachment_2158" align="alignnone" width="660"] The Great Basilica[/caption]

A great structure, still standing after so many centuries. Always people take photos from within the church but I really liked this one. More info on this church can be found here.

Baptistery

[caption id="attachment_2155" align="alignnone" width="660"] Baptistery[/caption]

This is the baptistery, the second largest one in the Eastern Roman Empire, the largest being that of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It is round and there are columns in circles but some are missing. There is a large mosaic on the floor but they have covered it to preserve it from the elements. Further info can be found on the official source.

Cobbled Path

[caption id="attachment_2152" align="alignnone" width="660"] Cobbled Path[/caption]

Buthrotum is quite easy to walk around. As long as you follow the cobbled path and read the signs, you can't miss important sightseeing. The mother with the baby see in the distance is my wife and son :) while the other people were tourists like us.

The medieval pizza oven

[caption id="attachment_2149" align="alignnone" width="660"] The medieval pizza oven[/caption]

Since the main sight, the ancient theater of Buthrotum is covered in my previous post with a photosphere, I'm moving to other sights. The vegetation is unbelievable, I wonder how it looks during winter. It's like a small jungle. Walking the paths I came across this structure. Reminds me of a pizza oven, although there is no tunnel inside. Just some sort of tub, not deep.

Welcome

[caption id="attachment_2146" align="alignnone" width="660"] Welcome[/caption]

This is the entrance to Buthrotum, after the ticket box of course. First, when you try to park, there is a guy in uniform trying to get a tip. I don't know the way he approaches to foreigners but you don't have to pay for parking if you are visiting Buthrotum. Actually, if you park there, you will see there is nothing else to do beside visiting Buthrotum. There is a raft to cross the Vivari channel (the one you see on the background) and a restaurant some 100m from the entrance.

As soon as you enter, there is a medieval tower from Venetian times. It is well preserved but strangely enough, I never had the curiosity to check if you can enter. I suppose not, since I've never seen anyone go near it.

Some general info from Wikipedia: Buthrotum was an ancient Greek and later Roman city in Epirus. In modern times it is an archeological site in Sarandë District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë and close to the Greek border.

The interesting thing is that most of the city that you will see if you get the chance to visit it, was covered in dirt and bushes until 1928 when an Italian archaeologist, Ugolini, uncovered it. A great example is the ancient theater where I created a Google Photo Sphere.

I guess I can talk for hours and hours about it but let's save some info for the next photos in the following days. :)

Also, last but not least, since 1992 Buthrotum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Buthrotum Entrance

[caption id="attachment_1218" align="alignnone" width="680"] Buthrotum Entrance[/caption]

Buthrotum Basilica

[caption id="attachment_1210" align="alignnone" width="950"] Buthrotum Basilica[/caption]

Lion Gate

[caption id="attachment_1001" align="alignnone" width="680"] Lion Gate[/caption]

Fishing

[caption id="attachment_933" align="alignnone" width="950"] Fishing[/caption]