The Lion Gate

The Lion Gate. Porta e Luanit. The texts on this marker are written in Albanian (shqip) (top left) and English (bottom left). Only the English text has been transcribed. To read the Albanian (shqip) text, enlarge the marker image by clicking on it. , English: , The so-called Lion Gate takes its name from the relief depicting a lion devouring the head of a bull positioned above the entrance. , The lion relief was not part of the original wall, but was placed here in the 5th century AD, in order to reduce the size of the gate and make it easier to defend. The relief is from a temple building and may date as early as the 6th century BC. , As you pass through the gate you will see a spring which, during Roman times, was associated with the cult of nymphs. An inscription in front of the well records that a citizen of Butrint, June Rufina, paid for its refurbishment in the 2nd century AD: IOYNIA POYΦEINA NYMΦΩN ΦIΛH , "Junia Rufina friend of nymphs". When it was first excavated, Christian motifs were discovered on the back wall of the well, suggesting that the pagan spring had been Christianised (sic) in the 5th or 6th centuries AD.