Details About Saranda

This ancient city is the gateway to the ruins of Butrint which has an impressive amphitheater where gladiators fought and Christians were offered to the lions. There are remnants of an early monastery and Christian Basilica with mosaic floors as well as fascinating inscriptions on the theater. Many eras are represented, from the original Greek settlement to paleo-Christian basilicas and a baptistry. Natural and man-made disasters emptied the city; over five centuries it became buried under silt and vegetation and only re-discovered in the early 1900s. This amazing cultural treasure with its ramparts, acropolis, agora, amphitheater, temples, public baths and private residences has been excavated and brought back to life almost intact over the past 50 years.