Berat County

White Ottoman houses whose windows climb the hillside row upon row have earned Berat the nickname "City of a Thousand Windows." A trip to Berat County takes you to one of the oldest continuously inhabited towns in Albania, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008, and into a landscape of vineyards, gorges, and the sacred Mount Tomorr.

Berat: Three Neighborhoods, One Castle

The old town consists of Mangalem on the left bank of the Osum, Gorica on the other side, linked by an old stone bridge, and the castle quarter of Kalaja on the hill. People still live within the castle walls, and Byzantine churches stand between their houses. In the Cathedral of St. Mary, the Onufri Museum displays icons by the 16th-century painter of the same name, famous for his distinctive shade of red. Down in Mangalem you'll find the King Mosque and the Bachelors' Mosque, and the Ethnographic Museum shows a traditional home. In the evening, locals stroll along the riverside boulevard, and in the lanes of Gorica more and more family guesthouses and small restaurants are opening.

Sights in Berat County

In the southeast, the Osum has carved a canyon up to 80 meters deep near Çorovoda, which you can paddle in rafts or kayaks in spring. Towering over the region is Mount Tomorr, a mountain sacred to the Bektashi; every August, thousands make a pilgrimage to the tomb of Abbas Ali at the summit. Vines grow all around Berat, and wineries such as Çobo make robust reds from the Shesh i Zi grape. Olives, figs, and stuffed peppers are also typical, and many guesthouses offer their guests homemade raki.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Buses run from Tirana to Berat in just over two hours. The most pleasant times are spring, when the river runs high, and fall during the grape harvest; midsummer can get very hot. If you want to visit the Osum Canyon, plan on a full day; the road to Çorovoda is now well maintained.