Berat: The center of Albanian olive oil.
Discover Berat, the “City of 1000 windows”, known for its excellent extra virgin olive oil. Discover the ancient citadel of Berat Castle and its thriving community.
No, Albania is not known for its excellent extra virgin olive oil. At least, not yet. But believe us: in this country they produce olive oil that can compete with the very best in the world.
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Berat and Olive oil
Our extra virgin olive oil is produced from olives grown in the mountainous regions surrounding the city of Berat. Most of the olive oil produced in Albania originates from the Berat region. The area offers so much natural beauty that Tomorr, an almost mythical mountain range near Berat, has been declared a national park. From the citadel of Berat you look out over this beautiful mountain range.
Berat: UNESCO world heritage Site.
Berat itself is known as the ‘City of 1000 Windows’ and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Osum River winds its way through the city, splitting Berat into two parts. The Gorica Bridge (Ura e Goricës) over the Osum connects both parts of the city and is one of the oldest bridges built by the Ottomans in Albania. The characteristic windows of the traditional houses reflect beautifully from across the river.
The Citadel of Berat Castle
Berat is dominated by the citadel of Berat Castle (Kalaja e Beratit), built on a hill on the left bank of the Osum River and accessible only from the south. A citadel is the fortified part of a city.
This citadel was founded 2400 years ago, but destroyed by the Romans around 200 BC. In the fifth century, however, it was deemed so strategically located that the same Romans decided to rebuild it to protect the Balkans against barbarian invasions. The citadel was enlarged over time under Byzantine conquerors in the 5th, 6th and 13th centuries.
The citadel of Berat is now considerably damaged, but remains an imposing sight. Its surface area was so large that it could accommodate a significant portion of the city’s inhabitants. The buildings within the citadel were mostly built in the 13th century, and have been preserved as cultural monuments due to their characteristic architecture. The citadel’s population was once Christian and it had about twenty churches plus only one mosque, for use by the Turkish garrison.
Today the citadel is home to a thriving community of Ottoman-era stone houses, family restaurants and souvenir shops, selling locally produced products. You will encounter many historical sights here and you get the feeling that you are taking a step back in time. The Berat Citadel is the only still inhabited citadel in the Balkans.
From olive to oil (summary)
In the village where Alfrida grew up there is an olive oil press in a small olive oil factory (Fabrika vajit ullirit). The locals still deliver their carefully picked olives to press the extra virgin olive oil.
The olives are harvested with the greatest care by the farmers and their families between the end of October and beginning of November,. The olives are all picked by hand. The very best olives are individually selected and distributed to go to the factory for pressing.
Only the just-harvested olives are used. Anything that has fallen to the ground will not by used to create extra virgin olive oil.
All that care, attention, tradition and craftsmanship ensures an excellent extra virgin olive oil, which we are proud to sell in the Netherlands.
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