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The citadel of Berat is one of the great historic monuments of the Balkans: a vast
, imposing fortress dominating the Osum valley. It is remarkably well preserved
considering its long and turbulent history. Within the citadel complex are the
important churches, domestic buildings, an icon museum and a ruined mosque.
The magnificent views of the surrounding country are breathtaking in their extent.
The citadel was built to a roughly triangular plan, following the contours of the top of
the hill, and is only accessible from the south-east.
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Viewed from below, that side of the citadel almost seems to be part of the hill
, a human extension of a great natural fortress that has offered control of the Osum river
valley in all periods of history. It is approached up a broad, well-paved road, dating from the
late Ottoman period. The hour-long walk can be strenuous particulary on a hot day, and you may prefer
to find a taxi. Visitors with cars can park at the top. Above the winding road on the left are attractive
hanging gardens which on a hot summer day waft the scent of coriander everywhere, and olive groves line the outskirts of the
city to the right.
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The entrance gate is reached at the top, with a roughly paved courtyard outside it.
The tower, a brutal-looking square structure would be an ideal set in a film
of one of Shakespeare´s darker tragedies. Just inside the entrance , after walking up the path to
the left, is the Church of Shen Todri. ST Theodore, with a very fine frescoes by Onufre the Great,
a 16C Albanian painter. It is a small building with an exterior polygonal apse. It was built on the foundations of
an older church and most of what can be seen dates from the 16C.
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The paintings
of the Virgin with outstretched arms, the Church Fathers
and of Christ and the Angel Gabriel are particulary
fine. St Theodore´s also contains some icons, of Christ Pantokrator, from the 16C, John the Baptist, from the 17C,
Virgin Mary with Child, 19C and St Theodore in a struggle with a dragon, dated 1741.
The citadel was always famous for its churches, with no fewer than 14 hidden within the walls of the fortress. They were
severely damaged, in many cases during the anti-religious campaigns of the state in the 70´s.
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[Things to See
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The inner entrance tower contains masonry blocs dating back to the original Illyrian fortifications, which were constructed in the
4C and 3C BC. An outer perimeter wall with 24 towers encircled the top of the hill. The high central tower on the edge of the inner fortifications
is also Illyrian in origin. The outer walls that can be seen today date originally from the reconstruction of the citadel under the rule of Michael
Comnenos, under the despotate of Epirus, between 1204 and 1215.
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The central north tower was reinforced then, and walls running above the river Osum extended to the south-east
, and the outer entrance gate built. In the 16C further refortification was undertaken by the Turkish
conquerors, and under Ali Pasha modifications were made to enable the fortress to be defended with modern artillery.
Follow through into the inner bailey area. In the centre is the Church of Shen Maria (St Mary), which also contains
Onuphre Icon Museum. The church was built in the late 18C and completed in 1797.
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