Day 2: “City of Thousand Windows” & “Stone City”

Berat is nicknamed the "City of a Thousand Windows" because of the more than a thousand white huts with multiple windows built against the mountains in the city. It sounds romantic, but in fact due to the terrain, it is cold in winter and hot and dry in summer. Place: The ancient city of Berat brings together many medieval artifacts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as the natural beauty of the Osum River and the farmland and countryside on both sides. It is also known as the "Museum City"; over the centuries, it has witnessed different religions and cultures Community coexistence. The "Berat Castle" built in the 13th century is a fortress overlooking the town of Berat. It is built on a rocky hill on the right bank of the Osum River and can only be entered from the south; some Byzantine-era churches are preserved in the castle. Some of the mosques built during the Ottoman period also have valuable murals and icon paintings inside. Among them, the 14th-century Holy Trinity Church has a well-preserved exterior. The 🇦🇱10-lek coins issued in 1996, 2000 and 2013 all feature Berat Castle on the reverse. Gjirokastër, the ancient city of Gjirokastër, was founded in the 4th century AD and is the commercial center of southern 🇦🇱. Local residents built houses and streets with stones on the hills. Rock flakes replaced tiles to lay the roof, so it is known as the "Stone City"; the city's walls date back to the third century AD; the Turkish Tower is the focus of the town, known for its rich interior decorative details and exquisite painting patterns; there are also An 18th-century mosque and two churches have been preserved; the highest point of the ancient city is the Gjirokastra Castle, built in the 6th century. It is said to be one of the earliest and largest mountain military fortresses in Europe, with 88 cannons and a city wall 8 meters thick. , all made of huge stones. These two well-preserved and rare historical centers from the Ottoman Empire, which have been inhabited from ancient times to the present, have been included in the World Heritage List as cultural heritage!