Day 145: Berat

Aug 26 - Today we walk up the long, steep road by our apartment to the flat top of hill overlooking the Osumi River. Here is the substantial remains of Berat Castle, mixed with buildings that are still occupied. Fortunately, everything is constructed with limestone blocks and tile rooves, so it keeps a sense of tradition.

This prominent hill, with a commanding view far up and down the valley, has been important since pre-Roman times. The Romans were compelled to burn down the fort there previously, and they subsequently constructed fortifications into Byzantine times (especially under Justinian I). In the 13th Century, more upgrading and expanding of the fortifications took place under the Despot of Epirus* Michael I Komnenos. It was at this time that much of what remains today was built. For that reason, most of the religious structures are Christian churches.

The main entrance gate to the castle grounds.

Part of the wall fortifications. This style of arch is common in the ruins.

Yep, there is no doubt that this is the bust of Constantine the Great, the Roman emperor that installed Christianity in the Roman Empire. Whether he did so out of personal conviction or as a political expedient may never be decided to anyone’s satisfaction. This bust (of unknown date but not very old) is probably here because a of the nearby St. Constantine and Helen Church (18th Century).

The water cistern. Really handy in case of a siege.

Portions of the castle wall have been left to grow over with vegetation.

Just a really nice alley through some of the inhabited parts of the castle grounds. We ate at a restaurant here that had a perfect view of Mt. Tomorr.

The entrance to the National Iconographic Museum Onufri. This is an amazing little museum, also a church, with numerous old icons, frescos, and silver items such as goblets. There was an audio guide that, if listened to fully, lasts for 1.5 hours.

Many of the paintings reference Jesus and the Virgin Mary. This one with four saints at the bottom.

This painting captures images of the ‘Seven Saints’ of Berat, though I do not remember their names. Of the five at the top, the two in the back wear monastic clothing. The two laying at the bottom are not dead, but ‘sleeping’. The castle at top and city/bridge at bottom are good representations of the old city of Berat.

The Holy Trinity Church, on the west slope of the hill.

The ruined minaret of the Red Mosque. There are a few mosques here, obviously products of the later Ottoman occupation of this region.

A view down to the Osumi River, still thick with mud from the recent storms. The bridge on the right is Gorica Bridge, which connected the old city on the south side (which was Christian), with the north side where we are staying (which was Muslim, at least from Ottoman times). I do not know how well divided the two districts are today.

Walking back down the hill, we stop at the Berat Ethnographic Museum, held inside a traditional Ottoman home (dating from the 18th to 19th Century). In fact, most of what is on display are rooms and the many household items typifying the old Ottoman influenced style. The house itself, with two floors, could only have been afforded by upper class citizens.

A front view of the house/museum.

The chardak, an open area constructed of wood on the upper floor. This large lounge area was for celebrations and receiving guests, and in the absence of those events, used for weaving and other household chores that required space.

An inner guest and dining area. Eating was done on the floor.

Stop by the mosque near our apartment again, as the grounds are now silent in the early evening. The attendant is cheery and says Odette can go wherever she wants.

The Sultan Mosque. Odette really like the mosques because they are fully carpeted and fun to run around in with no shoes.

The underside of the central dome of Sultan Mosque.

*Epirus is an old name for the region just south of here and extending past the Greek border. There is no lack of debate about the significance of the Epirus region, be it an originally Hellenistic land that was later invaded by Illyrians, or if it was always a mixed culture. There will be more discussion of this in a few days.

Get in a discussion with a resident about the ‘dark times’. He says that Hoxha dictated that people build their houses a certain way, not traditional but simple, in accordance with his Communist principles. As a result, according to the resident ‘we were allowed to only build houses like they do in Africa’. I never did get a description of what that meant, but he went on to say that just about every Albanian home seen today has been built since 1990. ‘We can go back to building homes like we want, we can put in towers and balconies and other things’.

Albania