Since 2008 is UNESCO heritage, a rare and brilliant example of a perfectly preserved Ottoman city, and is one of the destinations you cannot miss during a trip to Albania: here Weight, the âcity of overlapping windowsâ along the Osum River, where they breathe more than 24 centuries of the history and harmonious coexistence of various religious and cultural communities throughout the centuries.
It looks like a postcard with the shutters and small windows of the white houses perched on the mountain offering stunning views and the fortified citadel (Kala) inhabited, today as hundreds of years ago, by local families.
A destination that transports you to the past, in the presence of rural Albania and that, at the same time, offers the services of a town fully included in tourist guides.
What to see in Berat, the city of a thousand windows
The best way to discover Berat and immerse yourself in its typical atmosphere is to explore it on foot, without rushing.
The first stop that you cannot miss is, without a doubt, the castle, a monumental fortress that rises 241 meters on a rocky hill to the right of the river and dominates the entire city.
Although the first vestiges of the Berat fortification date back to Swing IV BC, the castle adopted its present form, characterized by a triangular plan, imposing walls and 24 towers, in the XNUMXth century AD. with Michael I Comnenus Doukas, cousin of the Byzantine emperor and despot of Epirus.
It can be reached with a magnificent walk that crosses the entire historic neighborhood of Mangalem: as soon as you arrive in front of the Castle, you will be impressed by its urban fabric designed by centuries-old stone houses still inhabited, small shops, hostels, restaurants, remains of mosques and churches enclosed in a truly authentic neighborhood, Kala, where it is not unusual to find groups of children playing and elderly shepherds passing by with their flocks of sheep.
Another highlight of the fortress is the suggestive panoramic viewpoint overlooking Mount Shpirag.
But not only that: in the heart of the citadel there are 15 churches, most of them from the XNUMXth century: above all, the Church of Santa MarĂa Villaherna, adorned with valuable paintings and mosaics by Nikolla, son of the painter Onufri, and the Church of Saint Theodore, painted with absolute mastery by Onufri himself.
Al Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Mary, the largest religious building in the citadel, is also located in the Onufri National Iconographic Museum, where you can admire Onufri's magnificent 173th-century religious paintings and the richest collection of icons in Albania, with 60 works (100 liturgical objects and more than XNUMX icons) created by leading Albanian painters between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries.
The heart of the exhibition are undoubtedly the masterpieces of 16th-century sacred art master Onufri, characterized by the use of the colors red and pink and by a realism unprecedented in the era.
You can't miss it then Church of the Holy Trinity, Byzantine church from the medieval period, which still preserves the structure of the Palaeologus period: with a Greek cross plan and topped by the dome, it is composed of the naos, the narcete and the niche.
Furthermore, in Berat the Christian churches contrast with the mosques, in a multi-religious context: it is worth highlighting, inside the fortified citadel, the ruins of the Red Mosque y White Mosque, cultural monuments of Albania since 1961.
The districts of Mangalem and Gorica and their attractions.
After having appreciated the Castle area, all that remains is to walk through the labyrinth of streets that distinguish the two historic neighborhoods of the city, Mangalem e Gorica.
The first neighborhood you will find when you arrive from the Citadel is Mangalem, where you can let yourself be enchanted by Sultan Mosque, the eldest, of lead mosque from the 16th century, from Celibate Mosque which is distributed over two floors, and from Ethnographic museum whose rich collection of furniture and work tools offers a perfect vision of the popular culture of the area.
Spectacular too Church of San Michele, a splendid example of 13th century Orthodox architecture with the nearby cave of the same name that was, in the past, a Christian sanctuary.
Then he passed Gorica Bridge With 7 arches and elegant white stones, you will find yourself in the Gorica neighborhood, adorned with numerous recently built churches, including the imposing Iglesia de San Spiridione y Church of San Tommaso, a notable pilgrimage destination.
