Search results for ""Butrint Foundation""

In 1386 Butrint, together with the island of Corfu, was purchased by the Republic of Venice as part of the all-important trade routes through the Adriatic. This splendidly illustrated book investigates one of the most fascinating aspects of European history: its post-Byzantine structure and the meeting with the Islamic world. Seen from the point of view of the Venetian enclave at Butrint, the archaeology, landscape and fortifications provide an engaging view of this complex period. The book is the first in a new series on Butrint, investigating aspects of the rich history and material culture of the ancient city. In English and Albanian.

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At first sight Gjirokastra appears extravagantly fanciful - an oriental vision of towering stone mansions clinging to the sheer sides of the valley. Dominated by a mighty limestone fortress that thrusts forward to accost those who approach along the valley, the city takes your breath away.Old Gjirokastra is one of the best preserved examples of an Ottoman-style town in the Balkans and was inscribed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005. This ancient city is a fascinating destination for those who want to dig deep into Albania's culture and history at this crossroads of East and West.The Essential Guide unravels the complex history of the city and its landscape, providing a comprehensive introduction to Gjirokastra's winding cobbled streets and impressive architecture. For those keen on exploring the region, it details trips into the surrounding countryside, where ancient fortresses and medieval churches lie alongside more recent ruins of the communist era.

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The Baptistery with its near-perfectly preserved mosaic floor is undoubtedly the most famous of the monuments at Butrint. In this splendidly illustrated book, Mitchell analyses the narratives of salvation and rebirth inherent in its iconography and proposes interpretations for the ritual use of the building and its annexe. The study highlights the contextual relationships of the mosaics with the schools and artisans of the east Mediterranean and the ecclesiastic patronage of the commissioning, providing important insights for the rich body of mosaics found throughout Butrint. In English and Albanian.

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This work on the fortifications of Butrint which here appears for the first time in English is one of the single most significant archaeological discourses produced on Butrint during the communist era in Albania (1945-91). It encapsulates perfectly the political and historical paradigm within which the author was obliged to operate, and highlights the theme of ethnic, cultural and social continuity from the ancient Illyrians to modern Albanians. Updated with new illustrations, the book is an important contribution to an on-going debate about castles and fortifications in the Balkans.

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Butrint 6 describes the excavations carried out on the Vrina Plain by the Butrint Foundation from 2002–2007. Lying just to the south of the ancient port city of Butrint, these excavations have revealed a 1,300 year long story of a changing community that began in the 1st century AD, one which not only played its part in shaping the city of Butrint but also in how the city interacted and at times reacted to the changing political, economic and cultural situations occurring across the Mediterranean World over this period. Volume II discusses the finds from the Vrina Plain excavations.This volume provides an insight into how the Vrina Plain community lived, worked and ultimately died and includes chapters on the medieval and post-medieval ceramics from the excavations, analysis of the human and faunal remains, environmental evidence, Roman and Medieval coins, a detailed study of the small finds as well as a discussion of the glass including a report on a number of glass cakes, ingots of raw glass associated with glass working that were found during the excavations.The volume also reports on five lead seals dating from the late 9th to the 10th century, an uncommon find but one which when considered with the contemporary coins suggests that for 100 years the Vrina Plain was Butrint.

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This richly illustrated volume discusses the histories of the port city of Butrint, and its intimate connection to the wider conditions of the Adriatic. In so doing it is a reading, and re-reading, of the site that adds significantly to the study of Mediterranean urban history over the longue durée . Firstly, the book proposes a new paradigm for the development-history of Butrint - based on discussions of the latest archaeological, historical and landscape studies from approximately 20 new excavations and surveys, together covering a temporal arch from prehistory to the early modern period. Secondly, it examines how the perception of the city influenced the archaeological methodology of 20th-century studies of the site, where iteration and reversal were often being applied in equal measure. In this it asks important questions on the management of heritage sites and the contemporary role of archaeological practise. Inge Lyse Hansen is Adjunct Professor of Art History at John Cabot University and specialises in the visual and material culture of the Roman world. She has published on portraiture, funerary art and the use of role models and patronage and has edited several archaeological volumes. Richard Hodges is Scientific Director of the Butrint Foundation, a leading medieval archaeologist and the author of more than 20 books. Sarah Leppard has led or participated in more than 15 excavations in eight countries and has managed major excavations at Butrint.

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