Berat and Gjirokaster, Albania

After Tirana, we drove south through the middle of Albania and explored these two historic towns.

Berat

Berat, the White City, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its unique architecture influenced by the various inhabitants over time (Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, etc.). There is a castle and fortified city on top of the hill, and a river that runs through two sides of the city below. It is very picturesque. The temperature was very hot while we were there (over 35 C) so we explored in the morning and evening.

Gjirokaster

This is the other city that is often compared to Berat. Gjirokaster is a lot more hilly. The new city is in a valley and the old, Ottoman city is up the hill. There is a large castle at the top of one of the hills. It has a very cute, pedestrian ‘Grand Bazaar’ area and some impressive, Ottoman houses. One of the coolest features of the architecture is the roofs – essentially just rocks piled on top of each other.

Old Town

Castle

The castle was very large and impressive. It had amazing views over the city. During both the Ottoman times and the Cold War, it was used as a prison with an infamous reputation for brutality.

I mentioned in a previous post the ‘specialness’ of Albanian drivers but in Gjirokaster I saw something unique – a car going down a staircase! Granted, it was one of those gradual staircases built in the olden days for horses that you often see in castles around Europe. Here, the path was very steep (unfortunately the video below does not do it justice – notice the angle of the bricks in the wall on the left and the angle of the houses below). Each step was not high and about half a meter apart. But still!!…