Berat

Berat, in central Albania, is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved towns in the country, a UNESCO gem known as the town of a thousand windows for the tiers of characteristic white Ottoman houses that climb its steep hillsides, their rows of large windows gazing out over the Osum River gorge. Crowned by a still-inhabited hilltop castle whose walls enclose Byzantine churches and old homes, and with historic Ottoman and Christian quarters facing each other across the river, it is a captivating, atmospheric survivor of the Ottoman age.

History

Pottery of the 7th century BC shows Illyrians on Berat's rocky hill, and the town is identified with ancient Antipatrea, in the land of the Dassaretae; in Roman and early Byzantine times it was Pulcheriopolis. The First Bulgarian Empire took it in the 9th century and gave it the Slavic name Beligrad, "white city", from which Berat comes. The Ottomans captured it in 1385, the Albanian Muzaka family then held it, and from 1417 it belonged to the Ottoman Empire; later it was the seat of the Pashalik of Berat founded by Ahmet Kurt Pasha, until Ali Pasha defeated Ibrahim Pasha in 1809 and joined it to the Pashalik of Yanina. In June 1961 Berat was declared a museum city, and in 2008 it was inscribed as a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Berat).

Highlights

• The thousand windows - the tiers of white Ottoman houses on the hills.
• Berat Castle - the still-inhabited hilltop citadel and its churches.
• The Mangalem and Gorica quarters - the old districts across the river.
• The Onufri icon museum - the medieval Albanian religious art.

When to go

Spring and autumn for the mildest weather; the white houses glow beautifully in the warm light of morning and evening. Albania is an emerging, affordable and welcoming destination, quieter and cheaper than its Balkan neighbours, though growing in popularity.

Things to know

Albania's infrastructure is still developing, so roads can be rough and services basic, though it is affordable, safe and welcoming, with famously warm hospitality. Berat is small, seen in a day, its steep cobbled lanes tiring to walk. It is growing more popular but still relatively uncrowded. Its distinctive tiered Ottoman houses and hilltop castle, though, are genuinely beautiful.

Nearby

The Osum Canyon, the town of Gjirokaster and Tirana are within reach.

Key facts