As a cherry on the cake and the last trip we had a trip to the old Ottoman city, registered in UNESCO, to the town of Berat.
After a few hours we arrived under the castle hill. It's a big castle. With his thick walls, he provided sufficient protection to his Ottoman masters. It was the only Albanian stronghold that Skanderbeg had failed to conquer during his rebellion.
Through the castle gate, we entered the courtyard and found ourselves 400 years back, at a time when the curved Ottoman sabers rang around. The stone houses with small windows and stone roofs were densely built next to each other. A narrow street inlaid with white stones led between the houses.
There are many Byzantine churches in the castle complex, despite the fact that Muslim Ottomans ruled for many centuries. We were headed for one of these churches. It houses the Onufri Museum. Onufri was a celebrated 16th century icon painter.
The city of Berat was founded by the Greek settlers and later became part of the Roman, Byzantine Empire and, for several centuries, an important city in the Ottoman Empire. From the time of the Roman Empire there is a great bust of the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great. However, it is only a copy, the original was transferred to Rome.
Large military barracks were placed on top of the fortress. The soldiers had plenty of room for training. Just outside the barracks are the remains of a mosque. Only a minaret has been preserved from the entire mosque.
From the castle we went down to the old town. Berat also calls the city of thousands of windows, and only here on the bridge over the Osum River, which connects the Christian and Muslim parts of the city, we understand why. The view of the many stone houses with small windows was worth it.
Berat was the seat of the Pasha. It is here that all the political and military power of the Ottoman Empire in Sandzak Avlon accumulated. The remnants of his formerly abundant abode have been preserved to this day. Nearby is the 15th-century Royal Mosque.
Right next to the Islamic mosque is the mosque Bektashi. She doesn't have a minaret. Masses may also be attended by tourists, or other curious people, for whom the upper floor is intended. Unlike a traditional mosque, women and men pray together. Like the mosque, there are no wall paintings with religious motifs, and Mihrab is built toward Mecca.
This inland stone town is extremely hot in the summer months. On the streets we will not meet almost anyone from our bus, so we are also going to cool down a little, have something to eat and prepare for the journey to our hotel.
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Place: Albania 🇦🇱
Berat
Camera: Samsung wb350
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