The ancient city of Butrint was designated a Cultural Monument in 1948; in 1999 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List; in 2003 the wetland complex, including part of the lagoon and the coastal area of Butrint at Capo Stillo, was proclaimed a Ramsar Site and National Park (category II of the IUCN Protected Areas Management Categories). Due to its importance for the protection of the archaeological and historical heritage, Butrint was nominated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. The cultural importance of the landscape and the archaeological context was later recognized by extending the UNESCO designation to include a total area of 2900 hectares. Mythology and history of Butrint
Butrint is a microcosm of Mediterranean history that well represents the rise and fall of the great empires that dominated the region. Today it is a jumble of monuments reflecting a period of more than two millennia, from the Hellenistic temples of the 4th century. B.C. to the Ottoman defensive systems of the early nineteenth century. According to classical mythology, ancient Buthrotum was founded by exiles who fled the fall of Troy. Once Hellenus, son of Priam, arrived, he sacrificed an ox, which, wounded, dragged himself into the surf and died on the beach. Considering it a good omen, the place was called Buthrotum, meaning "wounded ox". Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, tells of Aeneas traveling to Italy visiting Butrint.