The history of one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Albania, Berat, begins in the 6th century BC. Four centuries later another interesting story begins – the story of its main attraction, Berat Castle. The first mention of it dates back to the 2nd century BC when the Romans seized these lands and burned all the wooden buildings. Only the stone walls remained, but they were almost completely destroyed. Only in the 5th century, the Roman Emperor Theodosius II ordered the castle walls to be strengthened to protect the local population from the barbarian invasions of Germanic tribes. The next ruler of the fortress Justinian I in the 6th century and then the cousin of the Roman Emperor Michael I in the 13th century also contributed to the restoration of the stone fortress. At this time, the castle complex flourished. Some of those buildings can still be seen today.

Many buildings were added to the stone walls of the ancient fortification in the 13-14th centuries, for example, 24 observation towers and four main entrances. Given the fact that the territory of the modern city of Berat has always been a place with different cultural and religious movements, both churches and mosques were built inside the castle walls. Today you can see more than 20 well-preserved Orthodox churches and a magnificent example of Ottoman culture – the Red Mosque. A spiral staircase inside its minaret leads to the top of the mosque where you can enjoy a magnificent view not only of the entire castle, but also of the whole city of Berat.

There is a feature of this castle that distinguishes it from other ancient fortifications – today the life of the citizens continues within its walls. It reminds of the Middle Ages: there are the same isolation from the rest of the city. The castle still has its own temples and bazaars, museums and restaurants...