Venetian Acropolis Castle

39°44′46″N 20°01′12″E / 39.74623717204898°N 20.019894806259728°E / 39.74623717204898; 20.019894806259728Site informationOwner

AlbaniaControlled by

Republic of Venice

French First Republic

Ottoman Empire

AlbaniaOpen to
the publicYesSite historyBuilt14th centuryMaterialsAncient Blocks

The Venetian Acropolis Castle (Albanian: Kalaja Venedikase e Akropolit) is a castle on the Butrint Peninsula in southern Albania. The castle is located by the Channel of Vivari within the Butrint National Park and close to the neighbouring Venetian Triangular Castle.

In 1386 the Venetians purchased the land around Butrint from the Angevins. The Castle was shortly built after the purchase on the highest point of the Peninsula. In 1572, during the wars between Venetian and the Ottomans, the Venetian Acropolis Castle was abandoned. This led to the creation of the Venetian Triangular Castle which was built across the Channel of Vivari as a replacement settlement to protect the fish traps, a very important source of food and income for its settlement.

The castle and the surrpunding area came under French rule in 1797. In 1799, Ali Pasha of Tepelena conquered it, and in 1822 it joined the Ottoman Empire until Albanian Independence in 1912. The Castle was restored by Luigi Maria Ugolini. As per 1936, it houses the Archaeological Museum of Butrint.^[1]^[2]^[3]