Berat Castle is a fortified hilltop with an exterior wall extending about 1.4 kms. It dates back to the 4th century BC, through the Roman Era, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire to the present day where it is an active community of houses, guest houses and a museum. A number of churches were added inside the fortress over the years. It was a strategic fortress controlling trade routes and defence of the area.
We wander the uneven stone paths inside the fortress and visit the churches and museum. The churches are a hybrid of religions as they are built “Catholic” on the outside and “Byzantine” on the inside. The Albanians put their mark on the altar pieces and icons by using red in the paintings. I have never seen a painting of the Virgin Mary and Jesus with the Virgin wearing a red robe.
Berat is built on both side of a wide river bed. One side is said to be the Muslim side and the other is the Christian side. Strolling the small walkways among the houses on the Muslim side brings me back to the Greek island Hydra. Access to these houses is only by foot. The lanes are cooler with the breeze wafting through.
We cross over to the Christian side on a foot bridge and do the same on this side. Then back over the river on another bridge. By then we are all hungry so stop for a lunch, for me anyway, of a stuffed eggplant. It was delicious!
It is decided to go for a drive to see a gorge on the River Osum, further upstream than Berat. We travel through agricultural lands, with olive trees, crops, greenhouses growing peppers and eggplants, vegetable fields. Small villages dotted the windy, rolling road.
I spot a lookout over the gorge so we stop and have a good look. There happens to be a group of kayakers travelling down the gorge so we watch them until they paddle out of sight.