Venetian Tower, Butrint, Chaonia, Albania
Venetian Tower, a massive square blockhouse built by the Venetians in late 15th - early 16th century, Butrint, Chaonia, Albania. This tower was built to work in tandem with the Triangular Fortress to protect valuable fishing weirs. It has a drawbridge and battered sides to withstand attack. Venice capitulated to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797, when Butrint fell into the hands of the infamous local despot Ali Pasha of Tepelena. Butrint was founded by the Greek Chaonian tribe and was a port throughout Hellenistic and Roman times, when it was known as Buthrotum. It was ruled by the Byzantines and the Venetians and finally abandoned in the Middle Ages. The ruins at Butrint were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Picture by Manuel Cohen
