About Berat

Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Albania's oldest continuously inhabited cities, with roots stretching back to the 6th century BC. Its nickname — the City of a Thousand Windows — comes from the Ottoman-era houses stacked along the Osum River gorge, their large windows reflecting light across the valley. The 13th-century Berat Castle still shelters a living community within its walls, alongside Byzantine churches and the Onufri Museum housing 16th-century iconography. Below the castle, the Mangalem and Gorica quarters preserve Ottoman urban fabric with cobbled lanes, stone bridges, and family-run wineries producing Shesh i Bardhë from indigenous grapes. Berat sits at the crossroads of central and southern Albania, making it an ideal base for exploring the Osum Canyon, the Tomor Mountain National Park, and the nearby wine villages of Roshnik and Përmet. The city is compact and walkable, with most sites reachable on foot within 20 minutes.