Berat - History

The town of Berat, is built on an ancient Illyrian dwelling site, which goes back to the sixth century B.C. Its innumerable monuments, beautiful and characteristic architecture of its houses have proclaimed Berat, a museum town.

During the second century B.C. the town was called Antipatrea. It was a strategic Fortress of the Illyrian Dasaretes tribe. In the ninth century the town was captured by the Bulgarians, who held it until the eleventh century and renamed it, Beligrad (white City), from which the present name is derived. During the thirteenth century, it fell to Michael Angelus Comnenus, the despot of Epirus; in 1345 to the Serbs; and in 1450 to the Turks. After the Othoman conquest it fell into decline, and at the end of the sixteenth century had only 710 houses. Berat began to revive in the seventeenth century, especially after an earthquake in 1851, becoming a craft centre, noted particularly for its artistic wood carving. In 1809, it was seized by Ali Pahsa Tepelena.

The Fortress, was built on a rocky hill on the left bank of the river Osum and was accessible only from the south. After being burned down by the Romans in 200 B.C. the walls were strengthened in the fifth century under Byzantine Emperor Theodhosius II, and were rebuilt during the 6th century under the Emperor Justinian and again in the 13th century under the Despot of Epirus, Michael Angelus Comnenus. The population of the fortress was Christian, and it had about 20 churches (most built during the 13th century) and only one mosque, for the use of the Turkish garrison, (of which there survives only a few ruins and the base of the minaret). The churches of the fortress were damaged through years and only some have remained. The Church of St. Mary of Vllaherna dating from the 13th century, has 16th century mural paintings by Nikolla, son of the Albania's most famous medieval painter, Onfuri. In a small tree, planted on a hillside inside the walls of the fortress, stands the fourteenth century Church of the Holy Trinity. It is built in the form of a Greek cross and has Byzantine murals. Outside the ramparts is the Church of St. Michael (Shen Mehill), Built in the thirteenth century.

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