The Hellenistic walls
A Hellenistic circuit of fortifications with six vaulted gates was erected at Butrint to enclose an area running around the lower flank of the hill. The circuit of walls may well consist of two periods of construction, although there is no excavated evidence to prove this. The new walls were made of blocks skilfully fitted together without mortar. In places plumb-lines the width of a fist were incised by the engineers. Luigi Ugolini admiringly concludes that these were to ensure the correct, straight arrangement of the blocks; N.G.L. Hammond disputes this and suggests they were for drain-pipes. Whichever, the precision of the builders is unswervingly astounding. 
Of the surviving gates the so-called Lake Gate is an architectural gem. Simply made, the high lintel conceals stone architraves supported by consol cornices (Could this be the gate that Virgil might have seen and tells us about? asked Ugolini elegiacally). The same technique was employed at the Lion Gate, where it can be seen encased in a later construction. Gates on the north and west side, as well as leading to the western end of the acropolis are less well preserved. Undoubtedly, though, the main entrance – the Tower Gate - lay on the south side, providing access to the sanctuary of Asclepius from the Vivari Channel. This was an imposing entrance made of smaller blocks flanked by a round tower on one side and a rectangular tower on the other. Arrow slits in the forward positions offered guards the opportunity to control access. Wooden gates sealed the front and back of the 7 m long passageway between the two towers.
The Hellenistic walls enclosed as much as 10 hectares and constituted a formidable symbol of the authority invested here, probably the Prasaebes tribe. The walls were erected either in the early 3rd century BC during the reign of King Pyrrhus or after 167 BC when Butrint prospered under Roman control. In either case, though, the elegantly made fortifications affirm the importance of the sanctuary dedicated to Asclepius, the god of medicine, occupying the south-facing terraces.
- The Lake Gate
- The Tower Gate