Berat is called the city of a thousand windows. It’s also called the city of one over another windows, as in the windows of houses on the mountain are stacked upon each other. You see, the Albanian words for “thousand” (një mijë) and “one over another” (një mbi një) are very similar. So no one knows which description was used originally.

Window city

Street

I enjoy reading Albanian Wikipedia, obviously in translation, which is written in a proud and simple style. From the page on the Gorica Bridge:

In 1927, the construction of the bridge was entrusted by the government of that time to a young builder from Italy. After completing the work on only one of the bridge’s piers, he was unable to proceed further with the arches due to a lack of experience. At this time, a master builder, Hamza Molla from the village of Gjonbabas (Korçë), came to assist with the construction of the bridge’s first arch. Impressed by the master builder’s skill, the engineer requested to entrust the entire bridge’s construction to him and returned to Italy. He recommended that the work be entrusted to master craftsman Mahmut Belul Lekasi, who, together with Hamza and other craftsmen from Opar, completed the bridge’s construction within 1927.

Gorica Bridge

Berat has a cosy old town.

Old town

Plants

Up on the hill, there is a castle.

Berat Castle

Head of Constantine the Great (Roman Emperor)

An interesting thing is that there are both mosques and Christian churches in the castle.

Remains of the Red Mosque

Church and the city

View of the city

I really enjoyed the Onufri Iconographic Museum.

Onufri Iconographic Museum

Outside of the castle, there is a memorial to the Antonio Gramsci Battalion formed from captured Italians who fought against Nazi Germany in WW2.

Antonio Gramsci Batallion Memorial

It is not well-preserved.

Face

Another monument is dedicated to the Martyrs of Albania.

Monument to the Martyrs of the Nation

In the evening there happened to be a beer festival. I went there with a British guy and remarked how weird it was finding ourselves at a beer festival in a small city in Albania.

On the next morning I went to the bus station at 9am in order to travel towards Ohrid. I was told that the last bus in my direcition had already left and I was offered a taxi. Ha ha, I went just outside the bus station with my thumb up. After 10mins I was on my way to Elbasan, which is 2 hours away.

Beer festival

On my way

Elbasan

I passed through this city, Elbasan. Awful. I promptly left the city towards North Macedonia.

Elbasan

Lady bug towers in Prrenjas

I noticed a lot of bunkers in the hills by the border.

The Macedonian border was easy: they didn’t even open my passport. No questions, no stamps. By the way, it was my first time crossing a border hitchhiking.