Albanian UNESCO listed ancient towns of Gjirokastër and Berat

Despite its beautiful nature and its rich cultural heritage, Albania is not yet a touristic destination: usually, we were the only two foreigners enjoying unspoilt beaches, wild mountainous areas and lake shores. The only two times when we weren’t the only foreigners around –apart from Tirana, the capital town- were in the two UNESCO-listed ancient towns of Gjirokastër and Berat.

In Gjirokastër, you can spot tourists by the way they face Gjirokastër’s steep cobbled streets. I was not acting as a local and taking ant-steps, while locals do climb their streets as they were goats: more often than not old ladies overtook me, even when they were carrying their grocery bags. And kids ran so fast up and down the alleys that I almost wanted to scream at them “be careful“. Streets are narrow and curvy, the town itself keeps climbing -year after year- over the nearby mountain, and Gjirokaster’s urban plan looks like a maze.

On our first afternoon in Gjirokastër, we visited the castle: we walked among cannons and tanks at the National Museum of Armaments (also featuring a supposed American spy plane from the Cold War!) and laid down on the fortress’ surrounding wall, reading and waiting for the sunset.

From up there we could spot the nearby village of Lazarat, the European capital of marijuana, which we didn’t dare to visit because there were so many policemen at the interchange to Lazarat (with burp guns and all) and they were looking pretty intimidating…

From the castle you can also admire beautiful mountains -green, yellow and brown, with their peaks disappearing among the clouds- and the old town of Gjirokastër, with its roofs made of stone shining under the sunlight: a silver-wash effect mirrored in Gjirokastër’s own name, which in Greek means “silver fortress”.

Back downtown we found ourselves at the right place at the right time: in the main mosque’s yard during the muezzin’s call to prayer. I always find his singing incredibly fascinating and, despite being not-religious, when I happen to hear it I always freeze myself and just stare at the closest minaret hanging off the muezzin’s call.

The morning after I woke up very early, way before the opening hours of all souvenir shops downtown. I went out alone at the sunrise, wandering around old Gjirokastër and watching its bright white houses being progressively enlightened by the sunshine, which was rising from behind the old fortress we visited on the day before.

Old ladies with their heads traditionally covered appeared first in the streets, heading to the market or sweeping in front of their doors. Then, men gathered in front of the bars, sharing stories between cigarettes. I went to the bakery to grab a couple of byrek, which were coming out from the oven at that exact time.

I went to the old bazaar’s neighbourhood, which I found more authentic than downtown Gjirokaster –or was it just the sunrise mood?

Then I entered a tunnel under the fortress and explored the neighbourhood at the other side of the valley admiring its decadent houses with wide porches.

The air was fresh, very regenerating; and I was feeling damn fine.

This beautiful mineral water spring is definitely on the beaten path, but we wanted to visit it anyway.

The colour of the water at its different depths is mesmerising, shading from emerald to dark blue; and even if the temperature is around 10°, the Blue Eye is so captivating that many people were daring a plunge.

The spring is nestled in a beautiful park where you can enjoy a relaxing walk into the wood.

Gjirokastër || Where to stay: we slept at Hotel Kalemi, a guest house inside an old Ottoman building with traditional woodwork and carved ceilings. We got a very nice room, and I loved to spend the time writing on the big couch in the Ottoman hall. And I couldn’t help thinking how lovely this place can be in winter, with a warm heart!

Gjirokastër || Where to eat: we especially loved Kujtimi Restaurant in downtown Gjirokastër where we ate mixed qofte (meatballs), fried peppers and grilled vegetables (did I mention how much I loved Albanian fresh vegetables?)

Gjirokastër || What to read: “Chronicle in Stone” (1971): from the best-selling author Ismail Kadaré (born in Gjirokastër in 1936), the touching story of a kid living in Gjirokastër and experiencing the horrors of WW2 from a perspective that only a very imaginative child can have.

Old Berat is divided into two parts by the river Osumi, and on those two banks you find the two old neighbourhoods of Mangalem and Gorica, both inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list to protect their old Ottoman typical houses. These areas are characterised by picturesque cobbled alleys and houses with beautiful wooden structure, bright white walls and so many windows that Berat’s epithet became “city of a thousand windows”.

On our first afternoon in Berat, we climbed the way up to the Medieval fortress (Kala neighbourhood), which surrounds 14 churches (or their ruins in some cases) and ancient stone houses still inhabited. (I even entered one of them as the owner kindly invited me for a glass of water, after hearing me gasping for breath all the way up to the castle –no need to say she was at least 30 years older than me and managed the climbing just fine…).

I sat down writing on the ruins of a tower overlooking the hills, the curvy silver river, the green valley, the blue light at dusk, the black shadows of the trees and the red roofs of the villages in sight.

There is a big NEVER written on the Mount Shpirag on the other side of the valley, which is the anagram of the previous sign ENVER wanted by the dictator Enver Hoxha during the communist regime.

Another area I liked a lot is the one from Sheshi Axhensia on, a nice walk off-the-beaten-path I had on my second morning in Berat. From the main square, I took a boulevard scattered by small grocery stores, tiny shops, butchers, dairy farmers, shops for gears and various working tools, shoe-shine men at the corners of the street, post offices and over-crowded buses.
While I was walking past a Mosque under construction I couldn’t help thinking that I finally got where Berat is not preserved, yet still constructed, imagined, transformed and re-shaped.
Forget the open-air museum feeling of Mangalem and Gorica: over here Berat is lively and bustling!

Berat || where to stay: also in Berat, we couldn’t resist to the charm of the Ottoman guest-houses, and so we spent the night at Kodiket Inn. We got a gorgeous room, with a fireplace, a couch and more windows than any room I have entered in all my life! The owners are very kind, and they even invited us for a hike at Mount Tomorr: sad we were leaving on the day after!

PEEK THROUGH | You find both Gjirokaster and Berat in my video “My 13-days road-trip across Southern Albania…in 130 seconds”