Private Berat City Tour

This magnificent 2400 year old city is the pride of Albanian Architecture and is protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Berat has been influenced by both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Its influences from the Eastern & Western empires can be seen through their costumes, traditions and outlooks. Berat is a

treasure-trove for Albanian history & culture, and it is a testament of the country’s tradition of religious harmony and tolerance.

The city’s life began in the 5th-6th century B.C. as an Illyrian settlement. Later, in the 3rd century B.C., it was turned into a castle city known as Antipatrea. Even today, residents still live inside of the castle walls. The three main neighborhoods of the old city are Mangalemi, Gorica, and Kala, the latter being where the castle itself is located. In Mangalemi, below the castle, you can see the famous view of the facades of the houses, with windows that seem to stand above each other. With its houses built along the steep hill, the view of Mangalemi is the reason that another name for Berat is the City of the Floating Windows.

Across the Osum River lies the Gorica neighborhood, whose houses face those of Mangalemi. The arched bridge of Gorica, built in 1780, is a beautiful architectural monument constructed to link Gorica with Mangalemi.

Its rugged mountain setting is particularly evocative when the clouds swirl around the tops of the minarets or break up to show the icy peak of Mt Tomorri. The old stone houses that have been loyally accompanying each other for centuries,stand up proudly and do not show their age on their snow-white facades.

Not suitable for:

• People with mobility impairments