While on his way to ancient Italy, Aeneas stopped at a settlement on the coast opposite the island of Corfu where he saw, according to Virgil, “Troy in miniature”: a magnificent city where the king received him and his followers in a court of towers and spacious colonnades. This city was Butrint, situated in southern Albania (10 kms from Corfu), founded according to legend by Helenus, the son of King Priam, after the fall of Troy. Today, Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site representing 3000 years of history of Mediterranean culture, from Ancient Greece to the Venetian Republic and the Ottoman Empire. It is one of the least known and least spoiled of Mediterranean classical ruins.

Following reports that the Butrinti site was looted and damaged during the unrest in Albania in early 1997, a joint UNESCO-ICOMOS-Butrint Foundation assessment mission was undertaken to Butrinti from 20 to 24 October 1997. The mission prepared an assessment of the conditions of the site and recommended that the World Heritage Committee inscribe the site on the List of World Heritage in Danger. It also recommended a programme of corrective action for consideration by the World Heritage Committee. The report is available at: http://whc.unesco.org/archive/butrin97.htm

Butrint has since benefited from the “Communications for Cultural and Natural Resources Management project,” a collaboration between Butrint National Park and the World Bank, with funding from the Italian Development Cooperation. The project supports the promotion of sustainable eco- and archaeological tourism in Butrint Park and in the south of Albania. For more information, visit: http://www.butrinti.org/EN/09_project.asp