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Saturday, July 16, 2016

Welcome to Albania


Introducing Albania



lbania has natural beauty in such abundance that you might wonder why it's taken 20 years for the country to take off as a tourist destination since the end of a particularly brutal strain of communism in 1991. So backward was Albania when it emerged blinking into the bright light of freedom that it needed two decades just to catch up with the rest of Eastern Europe. Now that it arguably has done so, Albania offers a remarkable array of unique attractions, not least due to this very isolation: ancient mountain behaviour codes, forgotten archaeological sites and villages where time seems to have stood still are all on the menu. With its stunning mountain scenery, a thriving capital in Tirana and beaches to rival any elsewhere in the Mediterranean, Albania has become the sleeper hit of the Balkans. But hurry here, as word is well and truly out. 

 Berat city



The neighbourhood inside the castle's walls still lives and breathes; if you walk around this busy, ancient neighbourhood for long enough you'll invariably stumble into someone's courtyard thinking it's a church or ruin (no one seems to mind, though). In spring and summer the fragrance of camomile is in the air (and underfoot), and wildflowers burst from every gap between the stones.
The highest point is occupied by the Inner Fortress, where ruined stairs lead to a Tolkienesque water reservoir. Views are spectacular in all directions, and guided tours are available from the entry gate for €10. It's a steep ten minute walk up the hill from the centre of town.


    2,500 years ago the castle above the city of Berat began. This castle is one of the last castles in Europe to have residents living inside it's walls. It's a pleasure to show travelers this heritage site plus visits to the Ethnographic Museum, Onufri Iconography Museum, and UNESCO historical quarters of Mangalem and Gorica.
Tour Length: Approximately 3 hours.
1-4 people: 30€
5-20 people: 45€
20+ people: 50€
Note: 3€ are needed for Castle, Ethnographic, and Iconography Museum entry.


The castle of Kruje in Albania

Behind the Trevi Fountain in Rome, you will find Piazza Scanderbeg, the Albanian national hero, who for some time lived in the palace that retains the name. Today they would celebrate the feats of incredible leader, who with a small army, managed to keep in check the Ottoman forces who, while they conquered Constantinople and Europe in the Balkans, they could not be right of a small Albanian army.


The old town of Kruje
A great and tragic story of Scanderberg is that he was betrayed by the Venetians, deluded by the Spanish kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was the promoter of Albanian resistance that, for some, had in European history the same importance as the strength of the Spartans of Leonidas at Thermopylae.

Kruje is the birthplace of Skanderbeg
The castle of Kruje, Krujë in Albanian, was the last to fall into the hands of the Ottomans, 10 years after the death of George Castriota Scanderbeg. And there fell, not because they took it by force, but because the besiegers having had surrendered guaranteed to save his life. They all died, because the Ottomans did not stay to the covenants. It was October the 15th , 1478.

City of Kruje
Kruje today is a city of Albania with a little more than 13,000 inhabitants, perched on the rocks. The castle now houses a museum dedicated to Giorgio Castriota. And although historians were careful, they did point out that it was well worth a visit.

Albania – Krujë – Fortress

Castle in Kruje Albania which doubles as a museum
Beside the entrance is another museum, the ethnographic museum of Albania, completed with a reconstructed building of the Ottoman Empire. Along with the old Bazaar, and the narrow streets that climb the castle I can say that it will be worth your day visiting Krujë.

The castle of Berat in Albania


The castle of Kruje in Albania



The neighbourhood inside the castle's walls still lives and breathes; if you walk around this busy, ancient neighbourhood for long enough you'll invariably stumble into someone's courtyard thinking it's a church or ruin (no one seems to mind, though). In spring and summer the fragrance of camomile is in the air (and underfoot), and wildflowers burst from every gap between the stones.
The highest point is occupied by the Inner Fortress, where ruined stairs lead to a Tolkienesque water reservoir. Views are spectacular in all directions, and guided tours are available from the entry gate for €10. It's a steep ten minute walk up the hill from the centre of town.


Castle Pictorial in Antiquity
    2,500 years ago the castle above the city of Berat began. This castle is one of the last castles in Europe to have residents living inside it's walls. It's a pleasure to show travelers this heritage site plus visits to the Ethnographic Museum, Onufri Iconography Museum, and UNESCO historical quarters of Mangalem and Gorica.
Tour Length: Approximately 3 hours.
1-4 people: 30€
5-20 people: 45€
20+ people: 50€
Note: 3€ are needed for Castle, Ethnographic, and Iconography Museum entry.

Berat weaves its own very special magic, and is easily a highlight of visiting Albania. Its most striking feature is the collection of white Ottoman houses climbing up the hill to its castle, earning it the title of 'town of a thousand windows' and helping it join Gjirokastra on the list of Unesco World Heritage sites in 2008. Its rugged mountain setting is particularly evocative when the clouds swirl around the tops of the minarets, or break up to show the icy top of Mt Tomorri.
1000 Windows Tour in Mangalemi

The old quarters are lovely ensembles of whitewashed walls, tiled roofs and cobblestone roads. Surrounding the town, olive and cherry trees decorate the gentler slopes, while pine woods stand on the steeper inclines. The modern town is dominated by the incongruously modern dome of Berat University, while elsewhere the bridges over the Osumi River to the charmingly unchanged Gorica side include a 1780 seven-arched stone footbridge.
Traditional Albanian Folk Singers

In the 3rd century BC an Illyrian fortress called Antipatrea was built here on the site of an earlier settlement. The Byzantines strengthened the hilltop fortifications in the 5th and 6th centuries, as did the Bulgarians 400 years later. The Serbs, who occupied the citadel in 1345, renamed it Beligrad, or 'White City'. Albania, though it has managed to retain its easy-going charm and friendly atmosphere. Don't miss it.
Berat, Albania: Monuments

In 1450 the Ottoman Turks took the town. After a period of decline, in the 18th and 19th centuries the town began to thrive as a crafts centre specialising in woodcarving. Berat today is now a big centre for tourism in
Museum Frescoes: Albanian Orthodox



Panorama Photo of Berat Castle (Berati Kala)

The castle of Kruje in Albania


The castle of Kruje in Albania

Behind the Trevi Fountain in Rome, you will find Piazza Scanderbeg, the Albanian national hero, who for some time lived in the palace that retains the name. Today they would celebrate the feats of incredible leader, who with a small army, managed to keep in check the Ottoman forces who, while they conquered Constantinople and Europe in the Balkans, they could not be right of a small Albanian army.


The old town of Kruje
A great and tragic story of Scanderberg is that he was betrayed by the Venetians, deluded by the Spanish kingdom of the Two Sicilies, was the promoter of Albanian resistance that, for some, had in European history the same importance as the strength of the Spartans of Leonidas at Thermopylae.

Kruje is the birthplace of Skanderbeg
The castle of Kruje, Krujë in Albanian, was the last to fall into the hands of the Ottomans, 10 years after the death of George Castriota Scanderbeg. And there fell, not because they took it by force, but because the besiegers having had surrendered guaranteed to save his life. They all died, because the Ottomans did not stay to the covenants. It was October the 15th , 1478.

City of Kruje
Kruje today is a city of Albania with a little more than 13,000 inhabitants, perched on the rocks. The castle now houses a museum dedicated to Giorgio Castriota. And although historians were careful, they did point out that it was well worth a visit.

Albania – Krujë – Fortress

Castle in Kruje Albania which doubles as a museum


Beside the entrance is another museum, the ethnographic museum of Albania, completed with a reconstructed building of the Ottoman Empire. Along with the old Bazaar, and the narrow streets that climb the castle I can say that it will be worth your day visiting Krujë.