A highlight of any trip to Albania, Berat is one of the country’s most beautiful towns, having been preserved as a museum city by the communist government.
Its most striking feature is the collection of white Ottoman houses climbing up the hill to the castle, earning it the title ‘town of a thousand windows’. Its rugged mountain setting is archetypically Albanian, and particularly evocative when the clouds swirl around the tops of the minarets and battlements.
In the 3rd century BC an Illyrian fortress called Antipatria was built here on the site of an earlier settlement. The Byzantines strengthened the hilltop fortifications in the 5th and 6th centuries, as did the Bulgarians 400 years later.
The Serbs, who occupied the citadel in 1345, renamed it Beligrad (White City) and there is speculation that this is where the town’s name comes from.
In 1450 the Ottomans took Berat, and after a period of decline it began to thrive in the 18th and 19th centuries as a crafts centre, specialising in woodcarving.
For a brief time in 1944 Berat was the capital of liberated Albania.
What to see
The stunning museum town of Berat is a well-preserved Ottoman city (perhaps the best in the Balkans) with a lively lower town and a beautiful medieval citadel district on top of the hill. It’s certainly worth staying longer to visit all the sights, and to go hiking on wild Mount Tomorri.
In the lower town, visit the Leaded Mosque, so named for the roofing material, the Bachelor’s Mosque, the Sultan’s Mosque and the Ottoman han (inn).
Berat’s highlight is the inhabited citadel (100 lek, includes admission to the churches), reached via a very steep road (best drive up or take a taxi). Once inside the walls, you can visit ruined mosques and severalmedieval Orthodox churches, all intact and with restored frescoes and icons. The famous Onufri museum (open 09:00 – 16:00,www.beratmuseum.net, www.beratmonument.org.al; 200 lek) is housed in a wonderful church and holds the best collection of Albanian icons anywhere, many painted by local artist master Onufri. There’s a small shop and a café inside the citadel for buying drinks and snacks.
Guided tours
The German-Albanian Berati Tours agency is the driving force behind attempts to convince local authorities to offer more tourist facilities. Contact them for information, accommodation bookings, tours of the town, spectacular guided hikes in the surroundings and more.
Ask for their Berat Discovery Weekend package which includes lodging, meals, and tours of the city and a nearby gorge – all for a great price.
Welcome to Albania 