To think how many beautiful corners on Earth each year elude tourists who prefer the standard routes! Take at least Europe: Prague is overcrowded, in Montenegro, everyone will soon learn Russian as a native, and Paris and Rome now and at all no one is surprised. Balkan countries in this situation - an excellent way for those who want to comfortably spend their holidays, but does not like hours of flying to exotic countries.

A paragraph of history

This place was created in order to admire it. I do not want to talk here, but I want to listen, absorb, remember, to return home in a state of "enlightenment". The history of this city totals more than two thousand years, it can be said that the city witnessed all important events for humanity. Civilizations changed, wars broke out and died down, and Berat was still standing, a bit sullen, but no less charming. The magnificence of Berat is composed of its nature and unique architecture.

How to get

Getting to Berat is not difficult: just three hours from Tirana - and you're there.

It's interesting

Nature of Berat is restrained, but is beautiful .On the one hand, the city is surrounded by the mountains of Tomor, on the other hand it is surrounded by the Osun River .Residential buildings are located in tiers, and although they are built almost closely, they do not cause the feeling of tightness .Perhaps the fact is that in these white houses under the tiled roofs there are many windows? It's not for nothing that Berat is called "the city of a thousand windows" .Although a thousand windows, of course, are an overstatement of .The population here is only 60 thousand, in our understanding this is a difficult city to say .But rest in silence and rest of a leisurely town, where everyone is neighbors, can serve as an excellent therapy for a busy city of a megapolis + $ .

Kitchen and restaurants

Berat's kitchen is simple, like all ingenious. It is no coincidence that it is the center of trade for nearby villages. Here you can try delicious grapes and other fruits, buy wonderful tobacco.

Hotels

You can stop at the three-star hotel Castle Park. From the windows of this hotel you can enjoy a beautiful view of the city, as well as Mount Tomori. If you want to enjoy the history and culture of this place in seclusion, you can order a separate cottage. Well, if you want a local color "without bills," remove the room from an Albanian grandmother who will feed you a freshly baked hurapshi cake and goat's milk.

Entertainment, Excursions and Attractions Berata

The most pleasant thing is that the attractions in Berat meet at every step .That neither the house - an architectural monument or a museum, that neither the church - the ancient shrine .So skipping something important is just not going to work out .The pearl of Berat - its fortress, which is perfectly preserved .These walls are here since the 6th century and remember the dominion of both Christians and Muslim Turks..In houses with a fortress people still live .And they do not just live, but as if nothing had been pasturing cattle, are engaged in handicrafts and generally do not notice the splendor of this fortress .Every year, lovers come to the fortress, wishing to get married in this place .By the way, the traditional Albanian wedding ceremony also deserves attention - $ .

Of course, most of Berat's buildings were built in the time of the Ottoman Empire, but the Christian heritage here is venerated and guarded. This is proved by the fact that, along with mosques (for example, the Lead Mosque, the Royal Mosque, the Mosque), the St. Michael's Church, the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God, the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Church of the Evangelists are preserved.

The most famous museum is Onufri, in which icons and paintings are collected. Also in Berat there is a community of dervishes - a mystical sect, you probably know their strange way of getting into a trance during a dance. In the city two blocks - the Muslim Mangal and the Christian Goritsa, they are connected by a bridge in seven arched spans.

Albanian Switzerland

Berat called Albanian Switzerland quite deserved .About this country resembles a hilly terrain, and it will be unpardonable to come to Berat and not wander around its surroundings .You can take a bottle of local or Greek wine, warm bread, bought from the peasants, and go on a picnic in Fortress .Transparent cool water of the Osun River offers leisurely walks along its banks .And in May you can witness the amazing miracle of nature - the set of living lights that light fireflies .This phenomenon in the world can now be seen infrequently due to poor environmental conditions .Berat also kept the cleanest air to this day . Photo of Berat (9)