Berat Castle
Berat Castle, locally known as Kalaja e Beratit, lies in the town of the same name, in the county of Berat in Albania.
The castle is situated on a strategic position; an elongated hill in a bend of the Osum river. It started out as a proto-urban settlement around the 5th century BC.
A fortification here, called Albanorum Oppidum (fortress of the Arbers), was burned down by the Romans in 200 BC. Apparently it was rebuilt later, as it walls were strengthened in the first half of the 5th century, under the Roman emperor Theodosius II, to protect it from barbarian incursions into the Balkans.
Berat Castle was first rebuilt during the reign of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD). It was again rebuilt in the first decades of the 13th century under the Byzantine Despot of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas, who was a cousin of the former Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos.
In 1280-1281 the town and castle, known to the Byzantines as Bellagrad (meaning white city) was fruitlessly besieged for several months by troops from the Angevin Kingdom of Sicily.
In the mid-14th century Berat Castle was in the hands of John Komnenos Asen, Despot of Valona, who was of noble Bulgarian descent. It was probably during his reign that the inner citadel was built. Afterward, in 1417, the castle fell into Ottoman hands. The Ottoman forces were unsuccesfully besieged in 1455 by the forces from the League of Lëzhë, led by Skanderbeg, the Albanian national hero.
Under Ottoman rule, it was again strengthened in 1768. Even in the early 19th century, several towers were added by Ali Pasha of Ioannina, an Albanian ruler who ruled as a very autonomous and quasi-independent Ottoman pasha.
Ottoman forces in Berat Castle were successfully besieged several times in the 1830s by Albanian insurgents.
What remains of the castle, today, mainly dates back to the 13th century and to Ottoman times. The castle has only one main gate, to the north. The gate complex has 2 gates around a fortified courtyard. Inside the castle walls is the castle district, which is more like a small settlement with various Ottoman era residences, several churches and a small mosque. In the west part of the castle district stands the citadel, which consists of an inner castle with an outer courtyard. This outer courtyard would have housed the Ottoman garrison and is thus also equipped with a mosque. In the inner castle is a large cistern.
Berat Castle is freely accessible. A beautiful castle which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Recommended, as is the historic town beneath the castle hill.
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