White houses
In tiers.
Wolfgang Sauber — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Karelj — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Jocelyn Erskine-Kellie — CC BY-SA 4.0 · ViolaCiv — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aneta Ribarska — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Reisevogel — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Radosław Botev — CC BY 3.0 pl · Abramovaekur — CC BY-SA 4.0
The historic quarter on the slope below Berat Castle, where white Ottoman houses rise in tiers up the hillside, their many wooden windows facing the river, which gave Berat the nickname «city of a thousand windows». With Gorica on the opposite bank and the castle quarter, it forms the core of the UNESCO-listed old town, and looks its best from the far bank or from the stone Gorica Bridge. Narrow cobbled lanes and stairways wind through it, with old mosques including the Bachelors' Mosque, built for unmarried merchants and craftsmen, the King Mosque, the Halveti Tekke and traditional houses, some now guesthouses. Wandering is free and open all day. It is loveliest at sunset, when the façades glow, or in the evening when the windows light up, and pairs easily with the climb to the castle.
In tiers.
In the quarter.
From Gorica Bridge.
Hillside below the castle, Berat
Because Mangalem's Ottoman houses rise in tiers up the slope, their many wooden windows all facing the river.
