Perfect day

One of our stops today was the Blue Eye, which was located near Saranda. The Blue Eye is a natural water spring that has amazingly clear blue/ turquoise water bubbling forth from a stunning fifty-metre-deep pool. Divers have descended to fifty metres, but it is still unclear what the actual depth of the hole is.

We also visited another of the UNESCO world heritage sites; Butrinti. It is the most remarkable site - made particularly special by it's coastal setting and the site is surrounded by olive and other ancient trees. A real highlight of the trip.

UNESCO describe the site as follows:

The site. on a hill next to a lake connected to the sea by a canal. has been inhabited since prehistoric times. A Greek colony was founded there in the late 7th century BC. when the city (called Buthros) was surrounded by fortifications. Roman occupation prompted the development of the city and. during the Christian era. it became the seat of a bishopric. Many religious structures were built by the Christians. From the time the Slavs came to the Balkans (7th century) until the founding of the Epirus despotate (after the taking of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204). the city underwent great trials. Its last era of prosperity was under Byzantine administration (Epirus). After a short period of occupation by the Venetians (late 14th century). the city under Ottoman administration was threatened by the marshes that formed around the lake. and was abandoned by the population.
This archaeological site is a veritable conservatory of major monuments in ruins from each period of the city's development. Thus. the fortifications bear testimony to the different stages of their construction from the time of the Greek colony until the Middle Ages. The most interesting ancient Greek monument is the theatre. which is fairly well preserved. The major ruin from the paleo-Christian era is the baptistery. built inside the Roman public baths. The floor has a beautiful mosaic decoration. The paleo-Christian basilica was rebuilt in the 9th century and the ruins are sufficiently well preserved to permit analysis of the structure (three naves with a transept. and an exterior polygonal apse).

We were staying in Saranda, which is one of the few areas we visited in Albania which is showing signs of being ruined by a new wave of tourism. It was just a place to lay our heads. We went out of town for dinner to a nearby restaurant at a Castle with spectacular views of the surrounding White Mountains. The sunset pictures I've posted here show a really beautiful end to a perfect day. There's also pictures of Butrint if you're a history buff.