Albania

We have a new guide and driver today because we will be spending the next few days in Albania.  On our way out of Macedonia we made a stop at the monastery of St. Naum, which is now a museum and is no longer functioning as a church.  After visiting the monastery it was only a few kilometers to the Albanian border.

The scenery we have seen in Albania is spectacular - mountains and valleys that are ALMOST as scenic as those in Norway.  The first roads we drove on were major highways and we made pretty good time.  After lunch we got onto some narrow, dusty roads that we shared with sheep and turkeys. Our destination was the museum city of Berat.  We walked the steep stony streets up to the castle where we toured the castle church (also a museum now) and an art gallery that featured the icons from local churches.  From the castle tower we had fantastic views of the city and countryside.

We had a dinner featuring local specialties at a restaurant a short distance from our hotel.  We were seated on the roof overlooking the old town, the castle, and the dramatic landscape that was lit up for the night- very beautiful!

Albania is quite backward in many ways.  Until 20 years ago the citizens were not allowed to own cars! They still stack their corn stalks to dry and then bring them in by hand for winter silage.  Pretty, but a lot of work!

In the 1950's and '60's the communist dictator went on a bunker building spree.  There are concrete bunkers all over the country now - and no one knows what to do with them.  They cost too much to remove, they really have no useful purpose, and at the time they used up so much resource that there really was not much left to do anything (like build roads or schools).

The church of St. Naum is now a museum - but it still contains the remains of St. Naum!  He was one of the key  monks who converted the Albanians to Christianity.  Known as the "miracle worker" he was a "healer" who most likely used herbs and potions in his work.  (The foundations of the church are 9th century - but it has been destroyed and rebuilt - the last time in the 16th century.)

Driving down the road we came across this guy herding turkeys!  That's a new one on me.

Like so many castles, Kala castle has foundations that go back to the 7th century BC.  These were laid by the Ilira's who were later displaced by the Greeks, then by the Romans, and then by the Byzantines, followed by the Ottoman Turks.  Most of the fort that we can see now was built by the Byzantines.

This is the remains of the "Red Mosque."  When the Ottoman Turks occupied the fort they built two Mosques - a Red one and a White one.  They also demolished most of the 70 churches in the fortress area - leaving only about 40 in tact.  Today there are some 200 families who still live in the fortress.

St. Marie's church was originally built in the 10th century.  After being damaged by the Turks it was rebuilt in 1797.  It has some great frescoes from this period.  When they were working on it they found a bible from about the 800's.

Great view of the city and the river from up here.

We had a good view of the old town during dinner.  Some of these houses are over 600 years old!