Berat, city in south central Albania, capital of Berat District. Located on the Osum River, Berat is the commercial center for the surrounding agricultural region in which tobacco, grapes, and fruits are grown. Much of the city is built on terraces in the steep hills overlooking the Osum. The city has many historical monuments, including mosques dating from the 15th to 19th centuries and an 18th-century seven-arched stone bridge. A 13th-century citadel built along a ridge high above the river gorge houses a museum and several old churches.
Berat was founded in the 13th century, probably on the site of the ancient Greek settlement of Antipatrea. Under Turkish rule from 1440, Berat was the center of the Albanian nationalist movement in the late 19th century in which Albanians waged a struggle to win autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. Berat is known as the site of meetings in October 1944 in which the Albanian Communist Party formed a provisional government headed by Enver Hoxha. Population (1990 estimate) 43,800.
