The region and beyond
North of Butrint, at the crest of the Ksamili Peninsula, the monastery and church of Shėn Gjergi (St. George) is located. Situated at the very summit of the hill, the monastery affords commanding views over Lake Butrint and the Straits of Corfu. Wall paintings of the late 18th to early 19th century can still be seen in the church.
The crest of the hill is also the location of the so-called Dema Wall, a vast 9.6 m wide wall traversing the peninsula from Lake Butrint to the Straits of Corfu. The wall, which has been dated to the 5th century BC, has variously been interpreted as the northern boundary of the territory annexed by the Corcyrans (Corfiots) at the time of the Peloponnesian War, or as the northern boundary of the koinon centred at Butrint of the Prasaebean tribes the southern limit may have been defined by the settlement at Ēuka e Aitoit.
Further north, the ancient cities of Onchesmos (modern Saranda) and Phoenicź dominate respectively the coast and the inland plain. Despite being visually separated by the hills ringing Saranda, the inextricable connection between the ancient cities of this region is nowhere better exemplified than in the spectacular views from Likurs and from the Church of the Forty Martyrs above Saranda where panoramas from Phoenicź, Lake Butrint, the Ksamili Peninsula and Corfu is laid out before the viewers eyes.
