Berat Off The Beaten Path Tips by JLBG Top 5 Page for this destination

Berat, May the 31st 2007, Robert Schuman square

We were in Berat on May the 30th.
Once back home, I found the following information on the web site of the French Embassy in Tirana :

A delegation led by Mr Xavier DE VILLEPIN, former President of the Commission of the Foreign Affairs of the Senate, and Jean- Dominique GIULIANI, President of the Foundation Robert SCHUMAN, also made up of Mrs. Pascale JOANNIN, paid a visit in Albania from May 31st to June 2nd. During this visit, the Delegation inaugurated a monument dedicated to Robert SCHUMAN, on one of the places of Berat, devoted to the father founder of EU.

The Delegation inaugurated, May 31, the statue and the place Robert SCHUMAN, in the presence of the civil authorities (prefect and mayor) and clergymen (métropolite) of the city, Mr BESNIK Mustafaj, deputy of the democratic Party, former Foreign Minister, former Ambassador of Albania in France, and ILIR Meta, former Prime Minister, former Foreign Minister, chair of the socialist Movement for Integration, of the two Vice-ministers of Culture and the Diplomatic corps, in front of the cameras of television and a particularly many and enthusiastic crowd.

During the inauguration, the symbolic importance of the homage given by Berat and Albania to one of the famous five fathers founders of Europe was outlined. With German Konrad ADENAUER (1876-1967), Italian Alcide DE GASPERI (1881-1954), French Jean MONNET (1888-1979), Belgian Paul-Henri SPAAK (1899-1972) and French Robert SCHUMAN (1886-1963) was one of those fathers founders of EU.

Too bad we missed that event for one single day!

Berat, the mountain slope

TThe mountain slopes overhanging Berat are living. If you enlarge this photo, you will see that the zig-zag across the picture is actually a narrow path carved in the steep slope of the mountain. If you look carefully, you will see that it is currently used : in the upper parts, several herds of cows can be seen, walking down into the valley.

Berat, carrying wastes out of Kala

While we were parked at the entrance of the fortress, we were amazed to see two men carrying on a stretcher a heavy load of wastes taken out of the Kala district. That seemed to be very heavy and at one moment, they put their stretcher on the soil to have a rest (second photo). And a few minutes after, they took it again to carry it further away. From the sound, it seems that they unloaded it in some dumping ground, 100 m away.

Berat (?), 1988

These two photos were taken from our bus, in 1988. I thought they were from Berat but in 2007, I have been unable to spot these landscapes. I wonder if actually, they are not villages close to Berat such as Kuçova or Lapardha. Anybody knows?

Codex Beratinus

The photos of this tip are not mine but have been borrowed to the Unesco web site Codex Beratinus where you will find full details on the Codex Beratinus

I give here a short summary of its content.
Two very old Gospels (codices) have been found in Berat, Albania: ?Beratinus-1?, dating from the sixth century, and ?Beratinus-2? from the ninth century. Both form part of the seven ?purple codices? which survive today. Two of the ?purple codices? are preserved in Albania, two in Italy and one each in France, England and Greece.
They are proposed for inclusion in the Unesco Memory of the World International Register.

?Beratinus-1? ? sixth century is a Gospel handwritten in uncial majuscules. It represents one of the three or four oldest New Testament archetypes and is an important reference point for the development of biblical and liturgical literature throughout the world. ?Beratinus-2? ? ninth century comprises Gospel manuscripts from the standard text period. Some paragraphs are semi-uncial. In terms of style and age, it is comparable to Greek Codex 53 (Saint Petersburg). It contains the four complete Gospels.

The two Albanian codices are very important for the global community and the development of ancient biblical, liturgical and hagiographical literature. The seven ?purple codices? were written one after the other over a period of 13 centuries, i.e. from the sixth to the eighteenth centuries. The two codices represent one of the most valuable treasures of the Albanian cultural heritage.

In the 1970s, in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement between Albania and China, they were sent to the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Science to be restored. Identical reproductions were then created so that they could be fully accessible to researchers. After being restored, both codices are kept at the Albanian National Archives in Tirana, in a strong-room financed by UNESCO.