Berat One Day City Visits

Berat One Day City Visits

Berat, the city of “thousand windows” will offer you breathtaking views of white building located in hills, dating from the Ottoman Empire.

Highlights: The Ethnographic Museum, The Castle of Berat, Mangalem and Gorica, Medieval Part of Berat

The Ethnographic Museum and the Castle

First, your trip will start with a walk from your hotel to the Ethnographic Museum of Berat. It is located is a 18^th century residence and represents the way of life of prominent families and the tradition of locals as well. It holds nearly 1200 cultural heritage objects. The ethnographers placed all the pieces beautifully within the building.

Secondly, after visiting the museum, you will take a walk or drive (as you prefer) to the Castle of Berat. The castle will offer you breathtaking views of the city. Inside there are a lot of houses, bars, restaurants and the people living there never hesitate to welcome tourists. They can tell you every part of the history and never get tired of that. The castle was built in the 13^th century and it also holds churches and mosques and the famous Onfuri Museum inside of it. Next, you will enjoy the lunch in the castle.

Historic Neighborhoods and the Medieval Part

When leaving the castle, you will continue to some famous historic neighborhoods like Mangalem. It is a Muslim part of Berat and there you can find three grand mosques (Sultan’s Mosque, Lead Mosque and Bachelors’ Mosque). Each of them has its own design and history that makes them worth visiting.

Gorica a historic neighborhood as well. There is the Gorica Bridge which is one of the most beautiful bridges in Albania. They made it during the Ottoman Empire and it connects the city with the neighborhood. First it was built from wood then they re-built it from stones. Below the bridge runs Osumi river.

The Medieval part of the city shows best the influence the Ottomans had there. You can find the King Mosque, Halveti Tekke and some monumental tombs in this complex. There were also a library and a school of the old center but unfortunately, they couldn’t survive during the Second World War.

Finally, there are some options for the continuation of the visit. You can do some wine tasting and visit wineries. You can go for olive and local cheese tasting made by families with old food traditions.

Itinerary for the day:

09:00 – Visit the Ethnographic Museum
10:30 – Walk or drive to the Castle. Visit the Castle of Berat
13:00 – Lunch in the Castle.
14:30 – Walk around Mangalem, Gorica and Medieval Part (visiting a mosque included)
16:00 – Visit wineries, do some wine tasting, tasting of olives and local cheese.
18:00 – The end of tour.

Osumi River