Etymology
Saranda is from the name of the Byzantine monastery of the Agioi Saranda (Greek: Άγιοι Σαράντα), meaning the "Forty Saints" and honoring the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste. Under Turkish rule, this became Aya Sarandi and then Sarandoz. Owing to Venetian influence in the region, it often appeared under its Italian name Santi Quaranta on Western maps. This usage continued even after the establishment of the Principality of Albania, owing to the first Italian occupation of the region. During the second occupation in World War II, Benito Mussolini changed the name to Porto Edda, in honor of his eldest daughter.Following the restoration of Albanian independence, the city employed its Albanian name Saranda
Economy
Given its coastal access and Mediterranean climate, Sarandë has become an important tourist attraction since the fall of communism in Albania, although visitors are almost exclusively Albanians and Greeks. Saranda as well as the rest of the Albanian Riviera, according to The Guardian, "is set to become the new 'undiscovered gem' of the overcrowded Med." Tourism is thus the major economic resource, while other resources include services, fisheries and construction. The unemployment rate according to the population census of 2008 was 8.32%. It has been suggested that family tourism and seasonal work during the summer period help mitigate the real unemployment rate. Recently, the town has experienced an uncontrolled construction boom which may hamper the city's future tourism potential. Since 2012, the Port of Saranda is undergoing an expansion to accommodate cruise ships at its terminal. In 2014, Saranda hosted the Dea International Film Festival, while Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev organized a party in Saranda with around 60 VIP guests including Meaghan Anne Kennedy and other personalities
- Butrinti
Buthrotum (Albanian: Butrint; Latin: Buthrōtum; from Ancient Greek: Βουθρωτόν, Bouthrōtón) was an ancient Greek and laterRoman city in Epirus.In modern times it is an archeological site in Sarandë District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south ofSarandë and close to the Greek border. It was known in antiquity as Βουθρωτόν (Bouthrōton) or (Βουθρώτιος) Bouthrōtios in Ancient Greek and Buthrotum in Latin. It is located on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel and part of the Butrint National Park. Inhabited since prehistoric times, Buthrotum was a city of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, later a Roman colony and abishopric. It entered into decline in Late Antiquity, before being abandoned during the Middle Ages after a major earthquake flooded most of the city
outhroton was originally a town within the region of Epirus. It was one of the major centres of the Greek tribe of theChaonians, with close contacts to the Corinthian colony of Corcyra (modern Corfu). According to the Roman writer Virgil its legendary founder was the seer Helenus, a son of the king Priam of Troy, who had moved West after the fall of Troy withNeoptolemus and his concubine Andromache. The Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, as does the Latin poet Virgil, wrote that Aeneas visited Bouthroton after his own escape from the destruction of Troy.
The earliest archaeological evidence of settled occupation dates to between 10th and 8th centuries BC, although some claim that there is earlier evidence of habitation in the 12th century BC. Excavation at Bouthroton has yielded Proto-Corinthianpottery of the 7th century and then Corinthian and Attic pottery of the 6th century, however there are no indications of a prehistoric settlement. The original settlement probably sold food to Corfu and had a fort and sanctuary. Bouthroton was in a strategically important position due its access to the Straits of Corfu. By the 4th century BC it had grown in importance and included a theatre, a sanctuary to Asclepius and an agora. Around 380 BC, the settlement was fortified with a new 870 metres long wall, with five gates, enclosing an area of four hectares.
In 228 BC Buthrotum became a Roman protectorate alongside Corfu and Romans increasingly dominated Buthrotum after 167 BC. In the next century, it became a part of a province of Macedonia. In 44 BC, Caesar designated Buthrotum as a colonyto reward soldiers that had fought on his side against Pompey. The local landholder Titus Pomponius Atticus objected to his correspondent Cicero who lobbied against the plan in the Senate. As a result, Buthrotum received only small numbers of colonists.
In 31 BC, Emperor Augustus fresh from his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium renewed the plan to make Buthrotum a veterans' colony. New residents expanded the city and the construction included an aqueduct, a Roman bath, houses, a forum complex, and a nymphaeum. During that era the size of the town was doubled.
Map of ancient Buthrotum
In the 3rd century AD, an earthquake destroyed a large part of the town, levelling buildings in the suburbs on the Vrina Plain and in the forum of the city centre. Excavations have revealed that city had already been in decline. However, the settlement survived into the late antique era, becoming a major port in the province of Old Epirus. The town of late antiquity included the grand Triconch Palace, the house of a major local notable that was built around 425.
In the early 6th century, Buthrotum became the seat of a bishop and new construction included a large baptistry, one of the largest such Paleochristian buildings of its type, and a basilica. The walls of the city were extensively rebuilt, most probably at the end of the 5th century, perhaps by Emperor Anastasius. The Ostrogoths under Indulf raided the Ionian coast in 550 and may have attacked Buthrotum. Evidence from the excavations shows that importation of commodities, wine and oil from the Eastern Mediterranean continued into the early years of the 7th century when the early Byzantine Empire lost these provinces. In this, it follows the historical pattern seen in other Balkan cities, with the 6th to 7th century being a watershed for the transformation of the Roman world into the Early Middle Ages.
The diocese of Buthrotum was initially a suffragan of Nicopolis, but in the 9th and 10th centuries it is listed with the suffragans ofNaupactus.[10] Two of its bishops are mentioned in extant documents: Stephanus signed the joint letter of the bishops of Epirus Vetus to Emperor Leo I the Thracian in the aftermath of the killing of Proterius of Alexandria in 458; and Matthaeus signed the synodal letter of the bishops of the province to Pope Hormisdas in 516 concerning the ordination of Metropolitan John of Nicopolis. It became a Latin Church see under Angevin and Venetian rule. No longer a residential bishopric, Buthrotum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.
By the 7th century, following the model of classical cities throughout the Mediterranean, Buthrotum had shrunk to a much smaller fortified post and with the collapse of Roman power was briefly controlled by First Bulgarian Empire before being regained by the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century.
outhroton was originally a town within the region of Epirus. It was one of the major centres of the Greek tribe of theChaonians, with close contacts to the Corinthian colony of Corcyra (modern Corfu). According to the Roman writer Virgil its legendary founder was the seer Helenus, a son of the king Priam of Troy, who had moved West after the fall of Troy withNeoptolemus and his concubine Andromache. The Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus, as does the Latin poet Virgil, wrote that Aeneas visited Bouthroton after his own escape from the destruction of Troy.
The earliest archaeological evidence of settled occupation dates to between 10th and 8th centuries BC, although some claim that there is earlier evidence of habitation in the 12th century BC. Excavation at Bouthroton has yielded Proto-Corinthianpottery of the 7th century and then Corinthian and Attic pottery of the 6th century, however there are no indications of a prehistoric settlement. The original settlement probably sold food to Corfu and had a fort and sanctuary. Bouthroton was in a strategically important position due its access to the Straits of Corfu. By the 4th century BC it had grown in importance and included a theatre, a sanctuary to Asclepius and an agora. Around 380 BC, the settlement was fortified with a new 870 metres long wall, with five gates, enclosing an area of four hectares.
In 228 BC Buthrotum became a Roman protectorate alongside Corfu and Romans increasingly dominated Buthrotum after 167 BC. In the next century, it became a part of a province of Macedonia. In 44 BC, Caesar designated Buthrotum as a colonyto reward soldiers that had fought on his side against Pompey. The local landholder Titus Pomponius Atticus objected to his correspondent Cicero who lobbied against the plan in the Senate. As a result, Buthrotum received only small numbers of colonists.
In 31 BC, Emperor Augustus fresh from his victory over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium renewed the plan to make Buthrotum a veterans' colony. New residents expanded the city and the construction included an aqueduct, a Roman bath, houses, a forum complex, and a nymphaeum. During that era the size of the town was doubled.
Map of ancient Buthrotum
In the 3rd century AD, an earthquake destroyed a large part of the town, levelling buildings in the suburbs on the Vrina Plain and in the forum of the city centre. Excavations have revealed that city had already been in decline. However, the settlement survived into the late antique era, becoming a major port in the province of Old Epirus. The town of late antiquity included the grand Triconch Palace, the house of a major local notable that was built around 425.
In the early 6th century, Buthrotum became the seat of a bishop and new construction included a large baptistry, one of the largest such Paleochristian buildings of its type, and a basilica. The walls of the city were extensively rebuilt, most probably at the end of the 5th century, perhaps by Emperor Anastasius. The Ostrogoths under Indulf raided the Ionian coast in 550 and may have attacked Buthrotum. Evidence from the excavations shows that importation of commodities, wine and oil from the Eastern Mediterranean continued into the early years of the 7th century when the early Byzantine Empire lost these provinces. In this, it follows the historical pattern seen in other Balkan cities, with the 6th to 7th century being a watershed for the transformation of the Roman world into the Early Middle Ages.
The diocese of Buthrotum was initially a suffragan of Nicopolis, but in the 9th and 10th centuries it is listed with the suffragans ofNaupactus.[10] Two of its bishops are mentioned in extant documents: Stephanus signed the joint letter of the bishops of Epirus Vetus to Emperor Leo I the Thracian in the aftermath of the killing of Proterius of Alexandria in 458; and Matthaeus signed the synodal letter of the bishops of the province to Pope Hormisdas in 516 concerning the ordination of Metropolitan John of Nicopolis. It became a Latin Church see under Angevin and Venetian rule. No longer a residential bishopric, Buthrotum is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.
By the 7th century, following the model of classical cities throughout the Mediterranean, Buthrotum had shrunk to a much smaller fortified post and with the collapse of Roman power was briefly controlled by First Bulgarian Empire before being regained by the Byzantine Empire in the 9th century.
KSAMIL
Ksamil is a village and a former municipality in the riviera of Southern Albania, and part of Butrint National Park. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Sarandë. The population at the 2011 census was 2,994.The coastal village, built in 1966, is located south of the city of Sarandë off the road to Butrint.
Ksamil is one of the most frequented coastal resorts by both domestic and foreign tourists. Ksamil Beach and Albania's Jonian Coast further north was included in the Guardian's 20 of the best bargain beach holidays for 2013. Coast of Ksamil overlooking theKsamil Islands. Ksamil's beach The main attractions are the nearby Ksamil Islands. The mainland beach is small but clean. During communism, the area became well known for the production of olive oil, lemons, and tangerines. In 2010, national authorities demolished over 200 illegal structures that violated the town's master plan and the integrity of Butrint National Park. Some remains from the demolished buildings have yet to be removed by authorities. |