UNESCO to host “Gorica Bridge Speaks” event

TIRANA, March 18 – The Gorica bridge, an 18th century seven-arched stone bridge in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Berat will be the third stop of the Balkan Bridges Speak project hosted by across South East Europe highlighting bridges as powerful symbols of unity and mutual understanding.
The “Gorica Bridge Speaks” event scheduled for March 29 follows previous regional encounters in Edirne (Turkey) in 2012, and in Lovech (Bulgaria) in 2013.
Organized by the UNESCO office in Venice, Balkan Bridges Speak” project features round tables on some of the organization’s priority areas of work in the field of culture, artistic performances, public readings, and provides an opportunity for artists, national and local authorities, experts, private partners and universities of the sub-region to share experiences. It aims at enhancing creativity, dialogue and cultural exchanges, to inspire innovative and creative approaches to the safeguarding of heritage and culture sensitive development policies.
This event in Berat will feature notably a round table on ‘Building a network between cities.’
Balkan artists have been invited to represent the Gorica Bridge during two days in open air. The round table will be accompanied by artistic events: a photograph exhibition entitled “What the Water Whispers”; an open air exhibition “Balkan artists draw the Gorica Bridge”; two concerts “The Gorica Bridge Speaks” with the participation of musicians and folklore dance groups from Albania and Bulgaria and a sound and light show, 3-D animation of the Gorica Bridge.
The Gorica Bridge, which connects two parts of Berat was originally built from wood in 1780, but was later rebuilt with stone in the 1920s. The 7-arch bridge is 129 metres long and 5.3 metres wide and stands about 10 metres above the average water level. According to local legend, the original wooden bridge contained a dungeon in which a girl would be incarcerated and starved to appease the spirits responsible for the safety of the bridge.
Since 2008, Berat has been inscribed as a rare example of an architectural character typical of the Ottoman period. Located in south central Albania, Berat bears witness to the coexistence of various religious and cultural communities down the centuries. It features a castle, locally known as the Kala, most of which was built in the 13th century, although its origins date back to the 4th century BC. The citadel area numbers many Byzantine churches, mainly from the 13th century, as well as several mosques built under the Ottoman era which began in 1417.
Berat bears witness to a town which was fortified but open, and was over a long period inhabited by craftsmen and merchants. Its urban centre reflects a vernacular housing tradition of the Balkans, examples of which date mainly from the late 18th and the 19th centuries. This tradition has been adapted to suit the town’s life styles, with tiered houses on the slopes, which are predominantly horizontal in layout, and make abundant use of the entering daylight.