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Driving in Albania S1:E8 – Berat, Otllak, Poshnje (Travel Vlog)
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Berat, definite Albanian form: Berati), is the ninth largest city by population of the Republic of Albania. The city is the capital of the surrounding Berat County, one of 12 constituent counties of the country.[1] By air, it is 71 kilometres (44 miles) north of Gjirokastër, 70 kilometres (43 miles) west of Korçë, 70 kilometres (43 miles) south of Tirana and 33 kilometres (21 miles) east of Fier.

Berat is located in the south of the country, 120 km south of Tirana. It is surrounded by mountains and hills including Tomorr on the east that was declared a national park. The river Osum (total length 161 km (100 mi)) runs through the city before it empties into the Seman within the Myzeqe Plain. The municipality of Berat was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Berat, Otllak, Roshnik, Sinjë and Velabisht, that became municipal units. The seat of the municipality is the city Berat.[2] The total population is 60,031 (2011 census),[3] in a total area of 380.21 km2 (146.80 sq mi).[4] The population of the former municipality at the 2011 census was 32,606.

Berat, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2008, comprises a unique style of architecture with influences from several civilizations that have managed to coexist for centuries throughout the history. Like many cities in Albania, Berat comprises an old fortified city filled with churches and mosques painted with grandiose wealth of visible murals and frescos. Berat is one of the main cultural centres of the country.

The name of the city in Albanian is “Berat” or “Berati”, which is probably derived from the Old Slavonic Бѣлградъ or “Bel(i)grad”[citation needed] (Белград, meaning “white city” in the South Slavic languages), under which name it was known in Greek, Bulgarian, Latin and Slavic documents during the High and Late Middle Ages.[citation needed] That name was rendered as Bellegrada (Βελλέγραδα) in Greek.[citation needed] It is believed to have been the site of the ancient city “Antipatreia” (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιπάτρεια “city of Antipater”) or “Antipatrea” in Latin, while during the early Byzantine Empire the name of the town was “Pulcheriopolis” (Greek: Πουλχεριόπολις, “city of Pulcheria”).[6][7] In the Republic of Venice the city was known as Belgrado di Romania (Rumelian Belgrade), while in the Ottoman Empire it was also known as Belgrad-i Arnavud (Albanian Belgrade) to distinguish it from Belgrade.

Berat 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). It has a wealth of beautiful buildings of high architectural and historical interest. The pine forests above the city, on the slopes of the towering Tomorr mountains, provide a backdrop of appropriate grandeur. The Osumi river has cut a 915-metre deep gorge through the limestone rock on the west side of the valley to form a precipitous natural fortress, around which the town was built on several river terraces.

According to an Albanian legend, the Tomorr mountain was originally a giant, who fought with another giant (mountain) called Shpirag over a young woman. They killed each other and the girl drowned in her tears, which then became the Osum river.

Mount Shpirag, named after the second giant, is on the left bank of the gorge, above the district of Gorica. Berat is known to Albanians as the city of “One above another Windows” (a similar epithet is sometimes applied to Gjirokastra), or The City of Two Thousand Steps. It was proclaimed a ‘Museum City’ by the dictator Enver Hoxha in June 1961.

The earliest recorded inhabitants of the city (6th century BC) were the ancient Greek tribe of the Dassaretae or Dexarioi, the northernmost subgroup of the Chaonians, and the region was known as Dessaretis after them.[7][8] Modern Berat occupies the site of Antipatreia (Ancient Greek: Ἀντιπάτρεια), which originally was a settlement of the Dexarioi[9] and later a Macedonian stronghold in southern Illyria.[7][10] The founding date is unknown, although if Cassander is the founder it has been suggested that Antipatreia was founded after he took control of the region around 314 BC.[10] In 200 BC it was captured by the Roman legatus Lucius Apustius, who razed the walls and massacred the male population of the city.

Source: Wikipedia

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