the ancient city of Butrint was abandoned in the late Middle ages, when marshes covered the whole area. In 1386, the Venetian Republic purchased the area from the Angevin Kings and held control of Butrint and the island of Corfu just across the straits until the fall of the Venetian Empire in the late 1700’s. Following periods of Byzantine and Venetian rule the city was largely abandoned at the end of the Middle Ages when marshland encroached on its territory. By the early 19th century it was merely a small fishing village set around a Venetian fortress on the southern bank of the Vivari Channel. After that the Butrint area fell under Ottoman Rule until Albanian Independence was declared in 1912. During communist regime when Kruschev made a visit in 1960, a road was constructed from Saranda to the Butrint archaeological site. The Soviet leader proposed to build a submarine base in Lake Butrint with a deepened channel connected to the Straits of Corfu.