UNESCO Heritage Sites

Berat and Gjirokastra are inscribed as rare examples of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Located in central Albania, Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, locally known as the Kala, most of which was built in the 13th century, although its origins date back to the 4th century BC. The citadel area numbers many Byzantine churches, mainly from the 13th century, as well as several mosques built under the Ottoman era which began in 1417. Gjirokastra and Berat the two towns Gjirokastra, in the Drinos river valley in southern Albania, features a series of outstanding two-story houses which were developed in the 17th century. The town also retains a bazaar, an 18th-century mosque and two churches of the same period. These two fortified historic centres are remarkably well preserved, and this is particularly true of their vernacular buildings. They have been continuously in...

Inhabited since prehistoric times, Butrint has been the site of a Greek colony, a Roman city and a bishopric. Following a period of prosperity under Byzantine administration, then a brief occupation by the Venetians, the city was abandoned in the late middle Ages after marshes formed in the area. The present archaeological site is a repository of ruins representing each period in the city's development. The city of Butrint is one of the fragments which form the fabric of Albania's ancient cultural landscape. Nestling in the highlands in the far south of the country and surrounded by dense vegetation, Butrint was linked to the Mediterranean by the Vivari canal, which runs from the Butrint Lake to the Ionian Sea. Butrint the ancient trade route The settlement became an important stop along the merchant trade routes and reached the height of its glory in the 4th century BC as one of the major maritime and commercial centres of the ancient world. The sight of the fortifica...