Berati
This 2407 years old city, the
pride of Albanian antiquity
and architecture, and under
the protection of UNESCO, is
located 120 km from Tirana.
The city forms a wonderful
combination of eastern and
western cultures, costumes,
traditions, and outlook. Berati
is a treasure-trove of Albanian
history and culture, and tes-
timony to the country’s tra-
dition of religious harmony.
The city’s life began in the
6th-5th century B.C. as an Il-
lyrian settlement. Later, in the
3rd century B.C., it was turned
into a castle city known as An-
tipatrea. The castle expanded
especially during the feudal
dominion of the Muzakaj fam-
ily. Inside the castle, they built
churches with precious frescos
and icons, and a calligraphy
school. Today people continue
to live inside the castle, a fact
that makes it unique.
The three major neighbor-
hoods of the old city are
Mangalemi, Gorica and Kala.
The castle itself is in Kala; in
Mangalemi, below the castle,
you can see the famous view
of the façades of the houses,
with windows that seem to
stand above each other. In
general, a traditional house
has two floors, where the
second is prominent and has
many cambered windows
and wood carvings. With its
houses built along the steep
hill, the view of Mangalemi
is the reason that another
name for Berati is “City of the
Floating Windows”. Across the
Osumi River lies the Gorica
neighborhood, whose houses
face those of Mangalemi. The
arched bridge of Gorica, built
in 1780, is a beautiful architec-
tural monument constructed
to link Gorica to Mangelemi.
The ensemble of the Byzantine
churches in the castle of Berati
is extraordinary. At the foot of
the castle, there is the Byzan-
tine Church of Shën Mëhilli,
while the 13th century Church
of Shën Maria e Vllahernës,
the Church of Shën Triadha
(“The Holy Trinity”), and the
post-Byzantine monumental
Cathedral of Shën Maria are
located within the castle. The
Cathedral of Shën Mëria hous-
es a museum of works by the
famous iconographers of the
16th century: Onufri, and his
son, Nikolla. There are over
100 icons on display and they
also include works of other art-
ists such as Joan Çetiri, Onufër
Qiprioti and many anonymous
painters. You also can visit the
Monastery of Shën Spiridho-
ni in Gorica.
In 1417, the Ottomans occu-
pied Berati. This conquest left
its mark with the building of
monuments to the Islamic
faith, such as the Xhamia e
Kuqe (“Red Mosque”, inside
the castle), the Xhamia e
Plumbit (1555), Xhamia Mbret
(16th century) and the Xhamia
e Beqarëve (1872)
Other sites worth visiting are
the Ethnographic Museum,
situated inside an 18th centu-
ry çardak building, and the Art
Gallery “Edward Lear”, a well-
known English painter who
painted so much of Berati and
Albania. In addition, Berati is
known for its culinary and tra-
ditional dishes.
It is worth tasting specialties
such as Pula me përshesh and
Çorba e Tomorrit in the local
restaurants
