The ranks of elegant Ottoman-era houses climbing up the hillside to Berat’s citadel offers a photogenic view which is famous in Albania. The neighbourhood of Mangalemi, just below the citadel, is under protection as a site of cultural heritage meaning that its cobbled alleys have been preserved, and there are a number of great boutique hotels to stay in here. Even if you don’t stay in one of the heritage homes you can get an idea of traditional lifestyle in the attractive Ethnological Museum.

The citadel itself is still home to hundreds of people and offers fun exploration of the cannon and remains, the eight medieval churches (one housing the Onufri Museum of icon-painting) and two fifteenth century mosques.

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  Photo by Elizabeth Gowing