Berat 2,400 years old,
One of the 3 fortress cities that is part of the cultural heritage and is preserved by UNESCO. From the structural form of the main Mangalem neighborhood, it is also called the “one on one windows” town. The other neighborhood separated by the Osumi River is called Gorice. Gorica Bridge and Modern Bridge are two forms of pedestrian connection to this particular city. If you walk inside the Mangalem neighborhood, you will be enthralled by the narrow cobblestone alleys and look like you are lost in a medieval labyrinth. So tiring are the walks in the streets of Mangalem, where the small windows are so close to each other and you can’t tell if they are part of a house or some of them. Arched doors like the Old Porticese, with symbols engraved on them give you the idea of being in a centuries-old museum. At the top of the hill above Mangalem is the castle, the giant stone gate at the entrance and the Onufri Museum where they were discovered, the two unique Codecs in the world, the purple and the golden, to make the history of this place truly curious.
Antipatrea, an ancient name from antiquity, part of the Illyrian civilization from the tribe of the Desaretes, where after the II century BC, the Romans managed to conquer it by calling it Albanorum Oppidum (Arber or Albanian castle). After the 15th century, the city received a complete Ottoman architecture change. Many mosques and shops were built as Berat was a developed commercial city with two exits in the important ports of Durres and Vlora and moreover the Permet-Ioannina land route. Legends are part of this ancient city, one of them being the two warriors who fought for the Beauty of Berat. One of the men fought with a sword and the other with a mace. They faced such a bloody confrontation that they remain severely wounded and stretched across. The beauty of Berat approached and stood between the two fighters, who stood beside her and she mourned for days…
That is why today we have the Osumi River which crosses the city and the two giant mountains: Shpirag Mountain due to the slope trails and Tomorrin Mountain with pits due to the mace traces. Magical Tomorr is also a National Park and a place well known for pilgrimage after meeting the Divine, to be followed, only by its beauty.
By Bergi Agalliu
Touristic Guide
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