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The complex was build in XV century. There are a mosque, a helvetian 'teqe' (bektashian religion) and another building I don't remember now what it was, but actually there were the offices of the Institute of Monuments of Berat. The medieval center is situated on the right when you start the street to the castle. There are direction signs and explanations about the different buildings. It seems that the interior of the helvetian building is worth a visit, but we couldn't at the moment because it was praying time. Nice square, anyway. Leave a Comment
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Kisha e Shėn Mėrisė (Saint Mary church) was built in 1797 where was already a previous church. The famous icon painter Onufri painted several frescoes in Kisha e Shėn Mėrisė as well as in other chuches of Kala. The church is now a museum with a wide collection of Onufri works.
This is a must see but last may, we did not visit it. Next time! Leave a Comment
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Mangalem is the jewel of Berat, the most beautiful and preserved part of the old city. I don't have much to tell, you have to see it. Walk in the incredibly narrow lanes and enjoy the unique architecture of this quarter. The white houses, full of windows (city of a thousand windows), are builded one over the other, up and up on the hill. Leave a Comment
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Onufri's Icon Museum was opened in Berat in 1986. It contains some of the finest examples of religious art in Albania, not only by Onufri himself, but also by his son, Nikolla and other painters'.
In the Room 1: facing the entrance, displays one of the most beautiful icons in the museum, a work by Onufri in which the Virgin Mary is shown holding the infant Jesus on her right arm, enclosed by metalwork beautifully decorated with geometric and natural motifs. The style developed in Albania at this time was closely related to the icon painting school developed in Byzantine art in the time of Emperor John Paleologus, and the work of the Albanian painters drew on , and developed, a tradition already 200 years old.
An icon representing Tyron and Stratiliate is exhibited at the entrance to the naos. The two warrior saints are shown dressed as soldiers and kneeling in prayer. The room also contains objects made for liturgical use and ornate Bible covers made by the Berat master Agathangjel Mbrica. a particularly fine example shows the life of the Prophet Isaiah.
In the Room 2: is a large space with many icons exhibited in it. On the left is an icon 'Candlemas' from the citadel's Church of the Annunciation. It is a complex, elegant, richly-colored composition. The western side of the room is taken up with several other icons representing the Annunciation. Another outstanding icon in this room is that of the Virgin: made in 17C, it is heavily influenced in style by the contemporary icon painting school on the island of Crete. It has a delicate style, and very fine color gradation. Icons of St Michael and St George of outstanding interest are also found in this room.
In the upper Room: Most of the icons in this room, reached by the central wooden staircase, are from the citadel church of St Demetrius. The finest is perhaps the icon of St Nicholas, attributed to Onufri, or the icon of John the Baptist, by the same artist. Address: Cathedral of St Nicholas, in the castle
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Two Berat Gospels (Codex Purpureus Beratinus), which date from the 6th and 9th century, are displayed in the Onufri Museum. 'Beratinus-1' - 6th century - represents one of the three or four oldest New Testament archetypes, i.e. a non-standard pre-canonical Gospel. The purple parchment gospels, only 7 of them are still in existence in the world, are in UNESCO's 'Memory of the world register'. They are dyed in purple to show divine respect for the holy scriptures, and were dyed using purple secretions from a certain type of mollusk. In addition to their expensive purple dye, the manuscripts were also written in beautiful calligraphy in gold and silver lettering and contain elaborate illustrations of Biblical scenes.
The story of the Gospels in itself is fascinating: 'Beratinus-1' was given in the 6th century to a church in southern Illyria by an Emperor of Constantinople, probably Justinian, who was himself from southern Illyria. The first person to describe the manuscript held at the church of St George in Berat was the bishop of the metropolis of Berat, in the 19th century. In 1944, the Berat church council hid the manuscript because the german army wanted to take it away, for 'security reasons'. It has nearly been stolen at least four times since the 13th century. On the first occasion, it was the 'Franks from Champagne' who tried to take them during the Crusades, followed by the army of Tsar Uros in 1356; then it was the turn of the Austrian army in 1914 and, finally, german army in 1944, during WWII. In 1970, they were taken to China to be restored, and identical copies were made that are now displayed in the museum. Then the original ones were restored and hermetically sealed in a vacuum between two sheets of glass. What is amazing is, that two ultra-communist countries, in the height of their 'cultural revolutions', while they were knocking churches and temples left and right, took such a great care to restore two very old books. Is divine protection at work here?
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Only few facts are known about Onufris life. Until 1547, he painted in Berat, 1547 in Berat and Kostur (Kastoria, Gr), 1555 in Shelcan near Elbasan, after 1554 in the village of Valsh. At that time he signed his works of art with the title protopapa, which proves that Onufri hold a high rank in Byzantian ecclesiastic hierarchy. The first inscription recording Onufri's name was found in 1951, in the Shelqan church. The Kostur church has a date 23 July 1547 and a reference to Onufri's origin: I am Onufri, and I come from the splendid town of Berat . Onufri's style in painting was inherited by his son, Nikolla, though not so successful as his father as well as by Onufri Kiprioti and Konstandin Shpataraku.
At Onufris time, Byzantine sacral painting followed the relatively strict Paleolog Renaissance. Whereas he painted biblical and ecclesiastic motives according to the Byzantian canon, in his style Onufri freed himself from its all too strict patterns. He painted Albanian landscapes, Albanian towns and Albanian folk, peasants, shepherds and especially knights. Saint George, for example, seems one of the knights who fought the Turks under Skėnderbeg.
By his rather realistic style, he approaches European Renaissance. He was a master of portraits, capturing the inner life of his protagonists. He did not follow the rules of negative perspective, according to which far away objects seem bigger than those in the first plane. In Onufris works of art we find the beginning of landscape painting.
Perhaps the most characteristic feature of Onufris pictures not only icons, but also frescoes is the so-called Onufrian red. This typically bright color was also predominant in mediaeval Albanian costumes. Today the art of producing that Onufrian red is lost a secret which Onufri has taken with him into the mystical world he once had painted a glimpse of. Address: Cathedral of St Nicholas, Inside the castleDirections: At the entrance of the castle, follow the arrows pointing to the museum.
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The Fortress, is built on a rocky hill on the left bank of the river Osum and is accessible only from the south. After being burned down by the Romans in 200 B.C. the walls were strengthened in the fifth century under Byzantine Emperor Theodhosius II, and were rebuilt during the 6th century under the Emperor Justinian, and in the 13th century under the Despot of Epirus, Michael Angelus Comnenus. The last fortifications were added by Ali Pasha Tepelena in the 18th century, who strenthened the wall to withstand modern artillery.
The main entrance, on the north side, is defended by a fortified courtyard and there are three smaller entrances.
The fortress of Berat in its present state, even though considerably damaged, remains a magnificent sight. The surface that it encompasses made it possible to house a considerable portion of the cities inhabitants. The buildings inside the fortress were built during the 13th century and because of their characteristic architecture are preserved as cultural monuments.
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In Rome, the Capitol had geese warning when enemies were coming. In Berat, the Kala has turkeys shouting loudly to visitors that they consider as not welcomed ! They did not stop until we went further away enough ! Leave a Comment
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The church of St. Michael (Shen Mehill), was built in the thirteenth century. There is a steep path that takes you there from the base of Mangalem, and the views are just breathtaking.
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There are only two mosques in the castle, the red and the white one. The red mosque was used by militars (during Ottomoan occupation) and the white mosque was used by civilians. Leave a Comment Address: Berat castle
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on January 26, 2005
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