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39°52′N 20°00′E / 39.867°N 20.000°E / 39.867; 20.000

Sarandë (Albanian: Sarandë or Saranda ) is the capital of the District of Sarandë, Albania, and it is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. Situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian at 39.88°N, 20.00°E, it has a population of about 15,147 (2005 est.). Opposite of Sarandë is another tourist attraction, the Greek island of Corfu. There are daily ferries between them.

Near Sarandë are the remains of the ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

History

Prior to Byzantine rule, the city was called by its Greek name, Onchesmos or Anchiasmos (Greek,Όγχησμος) and it was located in Epirus inhabited by the Greek tribe of Chaonians.It was an important port in antiquity. Its current name is derived from "Agioi Saranda" (Greek,Άγιοι Σαράντα) and Santi Quaranta (Forty Saints in Italian) after the Forty Martyrs of Sebastea, traditionally commemorated by the Albanian Orthodox Church on 10 March. The city was temporarily called "Porto Edda" in honour of Edda Mussolini, the eldest daughter of Benito Mussolini, during World War II when Albania was annexed to Italy.

In the 4th century A.d. the town was fortified with walls. Inside the walls have been excavated the remains of dwellings, water cisterns and an early Christian Basilica of the 5th and 6th century, containing a beautiful multicolored floor mosaic. Other mosaics are to be found in the district museum.

The ruins are also preserved of an early Christian Monastery, of the Forty Saints, from which the modern name of the town (Saranda, forty in Greek) is derived. The amphitheater, dating from the 3rd century B.C., bears witness to the cultural riches of the city. The stone banks of seating, of which twenty-three rows have been preserved, would have held an audience of 1,500. The theater is situated at the foot of the acropolis, close by two temples, one of which is dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, who was worshiped by the city's inhabitants. Approximately thirty inscriptions, almost all in ancient Greek, carved the western facade of this temple, and another hundred or so found on a tower which was rebuilt in the 1st century B.C., are the only examples of writing discovered in Butrint. These inscriptions are mainly concerned with the liberation of slaves Christianity brought new life to Butrint.

The old-Christian period adorned the city with two basilicas and a baptistery, which is among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean region. Sixteen granite columns, forming two concentric circles, support the roof of the main hall. The floor is paved with a magnificent mosaic representing the Tree of Life and decorated with medallions embellished with animal motifs.

Barbarian incursions and Norman raids in the eleventh century, a catastrophic earthquake in 1153, conquest by the Venetians in 1386, the subterranean infiltration of water and the subsequent epidemics completed the ruin of the city and forced the inhabitants to flee. Butrint was buried in silence and oblivion. Throughout the occupation by the Ottoman Empire, from the 15th to the 20th centuries, the city remained in deep slumber. The waters covered Butrint in mud, and abundant vegetation completely hid the remains from view.

It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that systematic excavations were carried out at Butrinti by the Italian archaeologist I. Ugolini, followed by his compatriots P. Marconi and D. Mustili. Between 1928 and 1941, the ground was cleared and the ancient city gradually began to reveal its hidden treasures.

Following the liberation of Albania in 1944, Albanian archaeologists undertook more ambitious excavations. In turn, the ramparts, the acropolis, the agora, the amphitheater, the temples, public baths and private residences re-emerged into the light of day. The entire city arose, almost intact, under the fascinated gaze of the archaeologists. The mud and vegetation that covered Butrint had protected it from the natural and human ravages of time.

Population

Today, Saranda's population is a mixture of ethnic Albanians and Greeks. There are different percentages presented from the two main ethnic groups. Albanians claim that a lot of ethnic Albanians have declared themselves Greeks in order to get a pension given by the Greek government to its ethnic minority in Albania, but these claims are not evidence based. On the other hand, Greeks declare that there has been an Albanisation of the Greek minority. The Greeks of Northern Epirus and of all Albania have been under a policy of heavy Albanization from the era of King Zogu up to this day. Albanians today are thought to compose 88% of the total population of the town, and the Greeks and Vlachs 12%. The quiet Ethnic cleansing of Greeks by the Albanian government was to blame for this massive change in ethnic census. The other reason may be due to the large urbanization of the area since 1990, when the communist regime collapsed. Before that, Albanians composed about half of the total population of the town, and the other half was made up of Greeks, as well as a very small minority of Vlachs.

References

1. Epirus Vetus: The Archaeology of a Late Antique Province by William Bowden ,ISBN-10: 0715631160,2003,page 14,"Anchiasmos (Onchesmos)"
2. Saranda - Ancient Onchesmos: A Short History and Guide by Richard Hodges,2007
3. Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World - page 815 by Richard J. A. Talbert, Roger S. Bagnall - 2000,"R harbor, cape or town in Epirus between Onchesmos"
4. Strabo. The Geography, Book VII, Chapter 7.5,"these mountains one comes to Onchesmus,427 another harbour, opposite which lie the western extremities of Corcyraea"
5. Oracles, Curses, and Risk Among the Ancient Greeks by Esther Eidinow,2007,ISBN-10: 0199277788,Back Matter: ". Onchesmos was the principal port of Phoinike, the capital of Chaonia, ..."
6. "coastal town of Saranda, home to a large minority population,","The concentration of ethnic Greeks in and around centres of Hellenism such as Saranda and Gjirokastra",http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97 Defense Academy of the United Kingdom
7. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,"the area studied was confined to the southern border fringes, and there is good reason to believe that this estimate was very low"."Under this definition, minority status was limited to those who lived in 99 villages in the southern border areas, thereby excluding important concentrations of Greek settlement in Vlora (perhaps 8000 people in 1994) and in adjoining areas along the coast, ancestral Greek towns such as Himara, and ethnic Greeks living elsewhere throughout the country. Mixed villages outside this designated zone, even those with a clear majority of ethnic Greeks, were not considered minority areas and therefore were denied any Greek-language cultural or educational provisions. In addition, many Greeks were forcibly removed from the minority zones to other parts of the country as a product of communist population policy, an important and constant element of which was to pre-empt ethnic sources of political dissent. Greek place-names were changed to Albanian names, while use of the Greek language, prohibited everywhere outside the minority zones, was prohibited for many official purposes within them as well."
8. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,onset in 1967 of the campaign by Albania’s communist party,the Albanian Party of Labour (PLA), to eradicate organised religion, a prime target of which was the Orthodox Church.Many churches were damaged or destroyed during this period, and many Greek-language books were banned because of their religious themes or orientation. Yet, as with other communist states, particularly in the Balkans, where measures putatively geared towards the consolidation of political control intersected with the pursuit of national integration, it is often impossible to distinguish sharply between ideological and ethno-cultural bases of repression. This is all the more true in the case of Albania’s anti-religion campaign because it was merely one element in the broader “Ideological and Cultural Revolution” begun by Hoxha in 1966 but whose main features he outlined at the PLA’s Fourth Congress in 1961.
9. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97," under communism, pupils were taught only Albanian history and culture, even in Greek-language classes at the primary level." ,
10. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,"Under King Zog, the Greek villages suffered considerable repression, including the forcible closure of Greek-language schools in 1933-1934 and the ordering of Greek Orthodox monasteries to accept mentally sick individuals as inmates. "
11. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,"the area studied was confined to the southern border fringes, and there is good reason to believe that this estimate was very low"."Under this definition, minority status was limited to those who lived in 99 villages in the southern border areas, thereby excluding important concentrations of Greek settlement in Vlora (perhaps 8000 people in 1994) and in adjoining areas along the coast, ancestral Greek towns such as Himara, and ethnic Greeks living elsewhere throughout the country. Mixed villages outside this designated zone, even those with a clear majority of ethnic Greeks, were not considered minority areas and therefore were denied any Greek-language cultural or educational provisions. In addition, many Greeks were forcibly removed from the minority zones to other parts of the country as a product of communist population policy, an important and constant element of which was to pre-empt ethnic sources of political dissent. Greek place-names were changed to Albanian names, while use of the Greek language, prohibited everywhere outside the minority zones, was prohibited for many official purposes within them as well."
12. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,onset in 1967 of the campaign by Albania’s communist party,the Albanian Party of Labour (PLA), to eradicate organised religion, a prime target of which was the Orthodox Church.Many churches were damaged or destroyed during this period, and many Greek-language books were banned because of their religious themes or orientation. Yet, as with other communist states, particularly in the Balkans, where measures putatively geared towards the consolidation of political control intersected with the pursuit of national integration, it is often impossible to distinguish sharply between ideological and ethno-cultural bases of repression. This is all the more true in the case of Albania’s anti-religion campaign because it was merely one element in the broader “Ideological and Cultural Revolution” begun by Hoxha in 1966 but whose main features he outlined at the PLA’s Fourth Congress in 1961.
13. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97," under communism, pupils were taught only Albanian history and culture, even in Greek-language classes at the primary level." ,
14. http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97,"Under King Zog, the Greek villages suffered considerable repression, including the forcible closure of Greek-language schools in 1933-1934 and the ordering of Greek Orthodox monasteries to accept mentally sick individuals as inmates. "
15. "coastal town of Saranda, home to a large minority population,","The concentration of ethnic Greeks in and around centres of Hellenism such as Saranda and Gjirokastra",http://www.da.mod.uk/colleges/csrc/document-listings/balkan/G97 Defense Academy of the United Kingdom

See also

• List of cities in Albania
• Tourism in Albania

External links

Gallery

• Top view Top view
• Beautiful!! Beautiful!!
• Palm trees near the sea-side boulevard
• Sea view Sea view
• Dhermi beach, located nearby
• Kodra (west side) Kodra (west side)
• Coffee Break Coffee Break
• Hotels (east side) Hotels (east side)

v t e Cities and towns in Albania
Cities and towns in Albania share the status of a geographic unit which makes up a municipality.
(74)	Bajram Curri Bajzë Ballsh Berat Bilisht Bulqizë Burrel Cërrik Çorovodë Delvinë Divjakë Durrës Elbasan Ersekë Fier Fierzë Finiq Fushë-Arrëz Fushë-Krujë Gjirokastër Gramsh Himarë Kamëz Kavajë Këlcyrë Klos Konispol Koplik Korçë Krastë Krrabë Krujë Krumë Kuçovë Kukës Kurbnesh Laç Leskovik Lezhë Libohovë Librazhd Lushnjë Maliq Mamurras Manëz Memaliaj Milot Orikum Patos Peqin Përmet Peshkopi Pogradec Poliçan Prrenjas Pukë Reps Roskovec Rrëshen Rrogozhinë Rubik Sarandë Selenicë Shëngjin Shijak Shkodër Sukth Tepelenë Tiranë Tropojë Ulëz Ura Vajgurore Vau i Dejës Vlorë Vorë

• Archaeological sites in Albania
• Cities, towns and villages in Albania
• Ancient Greek sites in Albania