ALBANIA ~ Berat - UNESCO ~

... My first great Albanian UNESCO site👍... the famous "city of a thousand windows"... a walk across the river Osum offered this spectacular view of the Old Town with Ottoman-era houses perched beautifully on the side of a mountain...  the Ottoman architecture is uniquely preserved...  Berat is probably one of the most visually-stunning towns in the Southern Balkans... there are a number of museums, including the Berat National Ethnographic Museum, which showcase what life was like for earlier residents of this place....Thanks a lot Indrit!!【ツ】

Berat is the ninth most populous city of the Republic of Albania. The city is the capital of the surrounding Berat County, one of 12 constituent counties of the country. It lies on the right bank of the river Osum, a short distance from the point where it is joined by the Molisht river.

The old city centre consists of three parts: Kalaja (on the castle hill), Mangalem (at the foot of the castle hill) and Gorica (on the left bank of the Osum).

 Berat is one of the longest inhabited towns in the world. Certainly, for Europe, where the earliest records of Berat are first mentioned more than 2400 years. Artifacts found in the area prove people have been living in the area for much longer.

In 2008, Berat was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site along with Gjirokaster.

Stamps:

3X Regional Costumes
(Issued 20-03-2002)