Berat: Albania's City of a Thousand Windows

Berat city

Berat drawn in the early 19th Century

After traveling through the rugged Balkan Mountains and being stuck in the brutal heat of the the landlocked Albanian capital of Tirana, I was eager to get to the Ionia Sea.  I was traveling south toward the border with Greece and decided to go along the interior spine of Albania, rather than along the coast.  Even though, I wanted to make a big splash on the Albanian Riviera I decided to check out the city of Berat; one of the longest inhabited towns in the world.  Certainly, for Europe, where the earliest records of Berat are first mentioned more than 2400 years.  Artifacts found in the area prove people have been living in the area for much longer.

City of a Thousand Windows

great day to get married

Berat’s iconic ancient citadel is located on the highest point on the north side of Tomoor mountain, which has provided for superb defense.  The walled old town spreads downward along the southern slope giving Berat the reputation of “the city with a thousand windows” because that is the appearance when looking at the city from the base of the mountain.  A 915-meter gorge was created from the Osum river, which snakes around the base of the mountain giving Berat an fairytale look straight out of Ottoman times.  The river has been the life source of the inhabitants here, provided the region with reliable fresh water for irrigation uninterrupted for thousands of years.

Osun River at sunset

Despite my enthusiastic description, don’t expect a bustling city with tour buses.  Berat is one of those sleepy towns that seem to be dying a slow death and also the fact that Albania in general just hasn’t been exposed in any mainstream travel guides. 

  

The oldest part of the town, which is at the top of the mountain, is not the easiest ascension.  The rocks have been so worn down, it’s like walking on ice, so be sure to have some shoes with good traction.  You’re better off going Barney Rubble style than trying this with flip flops.  Fortifications at the highest and most difficult places to reach were vital in the ancient world, as I was finding out in real time.  Today, it seems this kind of isolation is probably the biggest reason why hardly anyone continues to live there.

part of the castle walls

The walls, castle, and old town has more crumpling buildings than restored, but it doesn’t diminish the experience.  The structures on the larger main road are better maintained and seem to have a few families still occupying them, but the smaller side streets seemed mostly abandoned as the overgrown with brush would indicate.  There are very few tourists mixed in with the few residents selling local textile or bottles of water, but nothing that would indicate a tourist economy.  It could just be that I arrived in the middle of July, when Albania feels like hell’s furnace. 

As the sun began setting, the temperature dropped nicely, and the last rays of the sun slowly retracted over the surrounding countryside.  The panoramic view was magnificent.  At the height of 2400 meters above sea level, inhaling all this beauty from atop the castle walls felt like a moment suspended in time.

It’s at this moment, that you can begin to visualize why Berat was so coveted by so many invading armies.  Strategically, it offered a commanding view of a frontier in an area that had switched hands probably at least a dozen times: Illyrians, Greeks, Macedonia’s, Romans, Slavs, Ottomans, Bulgarians, Italians, and Albanians just to name some.

It’s at this point, Berat begins to really grow on you.  Even though, it’s a good five hours from the capital and some ways off from the beaches, it’s worth the detour before heading to the coast.  By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, the sleepy town I left, was barely recognizable.  The change was immediate.  Hundreds of people were out and about on the main promenade.  Musicians had set up for the weekend summer festival.  Food stalls selling grilled corn and other treats.  Couples dining, seniors sitting on park benches people watching, and families taking a stroll alongside the river below. 

I was starving and what better way than to splurge on some delicious Albania barbecue at a riverside restaurant with a nice rooftop view of the “city with a thousand windows”.  Afterward, I retired across the Osum River to my quarters inside a three-hundred-year-old hostel in the Gorica neighborhood.  Berat is definitely worthy of its world title.

my 300 year old hostel