Butrint is one of the most important archaeological sites in Albania. It is located in Vlorë County, about 14 kilometers south of Saranda, near the Greek border, on a hill overlooking the Vivari Channel. The site is part of the Butrint National Park.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Butrint was inhabited as early as the 10th–8th centuries BC. Initially, it was a settlement of the Chaonian tribe, part of the ancient state of Epirus.

Later, it became a Roman colonia and eventually a Byzantine bishopric.

According to the Roman poet Virgil, Butrint’s mythical founder was Helenus, the son of King Priam of Troy. After the fall of Troy, Helenus and Andromache, the concubine of Neoptolemus, settled in Butrint.

Both Virgil and the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus note that Aeneas visited Butrint on his journey west.

The city declined in Late Antiquity and was eventually abandoned in the Middle Ages, especially after a devastating earthquake flooded much of the area.

Thanks to its immense historical, cultural, and natural value, Butrint was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and became a National Park in 2000.