Medieval and Venetian fortifications
The medieval fortification walls of Butrint were constructed in two distinct phases during the 13th century under the rule of the successors to the Byzantine Empire, first the Despotate of Epirus and later the Angevin kingdom of Italy. Eager to secure their dominion in Epirus, the Despots were great builders and their presence at Butrint and alliance with the Republic of Venice ushered in a new wave of economic prosperity for the town.
The 13th century walls accompanied a new castle on the acropolis hill and essentially created a series of baileys to foreguard the castle keep. The acropolis was ringed by a wall with towered gateways and down-slope extensions formed a long, narrow bailey on the west side. This arrangement was later modified with a subsidiary outer wall with formidable bastions, creating a murderously narrow passage to access the hilltop. The Hellenistic and late Roman (5th-century) waterfront circuits and the western defences were refurbished and a gated wall was constructed between the upper and lower circuits creating a new citadel on the north side of the city.
Considerable quantities of spolia – materials derived from earlier buildings – were incorporated into the walls. The late Roman waterfront wall was fitted with a rampart walk or fighting platform; new gates were constructed and towers added. Towers in the western defences, destroyed by fire in the 9th century, were expediently rebuilt on the burned out ruins.
Butrint’s premier medieval building – the Acropolis Castle – is largely a reconstruction of the 1930s: a substantial tower within a pentagonal enclosure with battlemented walls. However, fragments of original masonry, a sketch made by Edward Lear in 1857 and photographs taken by the Italian archaeologist Luigi Maria Ugolini in the 1920s and 30s combine to convey the powerful original form of the fortress, its high towers and adjoining baileys.
Erected at the western end of the acropolis hill, the castle provided clear views of the Straits of Corfu and the Vivari Channel. Earlier buildings were cleared to make way for the new castle, which began as a fortified enclosure with projecting towers and a single inner keep with two floors. A second tower (known only from Ugolini’s records) was subsequently added within the keep enclosure, perhaps the castellan’s residence.
- Medieval tower in the waterfront circuit
- The defensive walls of the Acropolis castle
- The Acropolis castle