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The citadel of Berat
is one of the great historic monuments of the Balkans: a vast
, imposing fortress dominating the Osum valley.
It is
remarkably well preserved considering its long and turbulent history.
Within the citadel complex
are the important churches, domestic buildings, an icon museum and a
ruined mosque.
The magnificent views of
the surrounding country are breathtaking in their extent.
The citadel was built to a roughly triangular plan, following the
contours of the top of the hill, and is only accessible from the
south-east.
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Viewed from below, that side of the citadel almost seems to be part of
the hill
, a human extension of a great natural fortress that has offered control of the Osum
river valley in all periods of history.
It is
approached up a broad, well-paved road, dating from the late Ottoman period. The
hour-long walk can be strenuous particulary on a hot day, and you may
prefer
to find a taxi.
Visitors with cars can
park at the top. Above the winding road on the left are attractive
hanging gardens which
on a hot summer day waft the scent of coriander everywhere, and olive
groves line the outskirts of the city to the right.
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The entrance gate is reached at the top, with a roughly
paved courtyard outside it. The
tower, a brutal-looking square structure would be an ideal set
in a film
of one of Shakespeares
darker tragedies.
Just
inside the entrance , after walking up the path to the left, is the Church of Shen Todri. ST
Theodore, with a very fine frescoes by Onufre the Great, a 16C Albanian
painter.
It is a
small building with an exterior polygonal apse. It was built on the
foundations of
an older church and most of what can be seen dates from the 16C.
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The paintings
of the Virgin with outstretched arms, the Church Fathers and of Christ and the
Angel Gabriel are particulary
fine.
St
Theodores also contains some
icons, of Christ Pantokrator, from the 16C, John the Baptist,
from the 17C,
Virgin Mary with Child, 19C and St Theodore in a struggle with a
dragon, dated 1741.
The citadel was always famous for its churches,
with no fewer than 14 hidden within the walls of the fortress. They
were severely damaged, in many cases during the anti-religious
campaigns of the state in the 70s.
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The inner entrance tower contains masonry blocs dating
back to the original Illyrian
fortifications, which were constructed in the 4C and 3C BC.
An outer
perimeter wall with 24
towers encircled the top of the hill. The high central tower on
the edge of the inner fortifications
is also Illyrian in origin.
The outer
walls that can be seen today date originally from the reconstruction of
the citadel under the rule of
Michael
Comnenos, under the despotate of Epirus, between 1204 and 1215.
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The central north
tower was reinforced then, and walls running above the river
Osum extended to the south-east
, and the outer entrance gate built.
In the 16C
further refortification was undertaken by the Turkish conquerors, and
under Ali Pasha
modifications were made to enable the fortress to be defended with
modern artillery.
Follow
through into the inner bailey area. In the centre is the Church of Shen Maria (St
Mary), which also contains
Onuphre Icon
Museum. The church was built in the late 18C and completed in
1797.
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