Inhab­it­ed since pre­his­toric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bish­opric. Fol­low­ing a peri­od of pros­per­i­ty under Byzan­tine admin­is­tra­tion, then a brief occu­pa­tion by the Vene­tians, the city was aban­doned in the late Mid­dle Ages after marsh­es formed in the area. The present archae­o­log­i­cal site is a repos­i­to­ry of ruins rep­re­sent­ing each peri­od in the city’s devel­op­ment.