Forbes picks destination in Albania to be among exceptional Eastern European sights

TIRANA, Feb.20- The Forbes website travel section highlights ten spots, including natural and architectural landmarks that are worth seeing throughout the region. It notes that the “recent strength of the euro and a number of countries easing visa requirements have more tourists trekking east in search of architecturally, historically and culturally significant sights that for years had been practically overlooked.” One of the Balkan destination noted as exceptional is the thirteenth-century Berat Fortress in Albania, which stands perched on a hill overlooking the Osum River valley. Forbes mentions the Byzantine churches it encompasses, as well as the nearby St. Nicholas Cathedral that houses works by the sixteenth-century Albanian iconographer and painter Onufri.