Vlore-Berat – Ardenice-Apollonia

Vlore-Berat – Ardenice-Apollonia

 Berati 2,500 years-old, is the pride of Albanian architecture. The city forms a wonderful combination of eastern and western cultures, costumes, traditions and outlook. Inside the castle, there were built churches with precious frescos and icons. Here we will visit the Onufri Iconographic Museum. Today Onufri’s spectacular paintings are displayed along with the church’s beautifully gilded iconostasis of 19 century, You will start your tour by visiting UNESCO World Heritage Site Berat. Steeped with a rich history, you’ll soon discover why everyone loves it.

Nowadays, the castle is considered unique by the fact that people continue to live inside of it. The three major neighborhoods of the old city are Mangalemi, Gorica, and Kala (Castle), where the castle itself is located.

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After some free time for lunch and shopping transfer to Ardenica Monastery Covering an area of 2,500 square meters, the Monastery was built in 282, commissioned by the emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos of Byzantium. Perhaps the most interesting historical event recorded in Ardenica is Skanderbeg’s wedding to his lifelong wife Donika, hosted on April of 1451 at the Chapel of St. Trinity Church, the monastery’s very first church, built in the 10th century.

Transfer to Apollonia

Journey into the Classical Period

Several beautiful ruins and important monuments, such as “Promenade B” with its 4th century B.C. Doric columns, the Nymphaeum’s magnificent fountains, and the largest preserved monument of the Park, the Gate of Temenos with the grand Obelisk sitting across from it, as well as many other artifacts and remains, will immerse you in the past and make you forget about any notion of the present.

Transfer back to Hotel