Known as the Venetian Castle, this castle is located on the small hill situated in the north side of the Butrint National Park. As of today, it houses a museum.
According to the Wikipedia, in 1386, the Republic of Venice purchased this area (Butrint, Albania and Corfu, Greece) from the Angevins. The Venetian Castle was build shortly after. However, the Venetian merchants were principally interested in Corfu, not Butrint. So Butrint declined.
By 1572 the wars between Venice and the Ottoman Empire had left the city ruinous and the acropolis was abandoned, while at the order of Domenico Foscarini, the Venetian commander of Corfu, the administration of Butrint and its environs was shifted to a small triangular fortress associated with the extensive fish weirs. This fortress, known as the Venetian Triangular Castle, was built on the south side of the Vivari Channel.
In 1797, the area came under French sovereignty.
However, in 1799, the local Ottoman governor Ali Pasha of Tepelena conquered it, and it became a part of the Ottoman Empire until Albania gained its independence in 1913.
Ali Pasha of Tepelena built a small fortress which is located at the mouth of the Vivari Channel, known as the Vivari Channel Fortress. This is a small rectangular fort (22 x 30m) with partially destroyed walls.
By that time Albania gained its independence, the site of the original city had been unoccupied for centuries and was surrounded by malarial marshes.
In 1920's, the Venetian Castle was restored. Since 1938, it houses a museum.
According to Wikipedia, "Butrint (Latin: Buthrotum; from Ancient Greek: Bouthrotón , romanized: Bouthrotón) was an ancient Greek and later Roman city and bishopric in Epirus. Perhaps inhabited since prehistoric times, Buthrotum was a city of the Epirote tribe of the Chaonians, later a Roman colony and a bishopric. It entered into decline in Late Antiquity, before being abandoned during the Middle Ages after a major earthquake flooded most of the city. In modern times it is an archeological site in Vlorë County, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarandë and close to the Greek border. It is located on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel and is part of the Butrint National Park. Today Bouthrotum is a Latin Catholic titular see and also features the Ali Pasha Castle.
The city is considered as one of the most important archaeological sites in Albania. On the strength of the immense wealth of cultural, historical and natural value with a considerable history, Butrint was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992 and further a National Park in 2000".
Source: Wikipedia.
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