Mosaics from early Christian churches found in Albania

"Berat is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its unique historic downtown characterized by 18th and 19th century Ottoman structures and urban design, but human presence in the area goes back to the 4th/3rd millennium B.C. and there is evidence of an urban settlement in Berat defined by defensive walls dating to the 7th-6th century B.C."

"According to Livy, the walls were destroyed and the city burned down by Roman forces under the command of consul Publius Sulpicius Galba in 200 B.C. during the Second Macedonian War. After that, there are no references to Antipatrea in ancient sources until the 5th century, when Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius II (401-450 A.D.) was said to have rebuilt the walls and renamed the city Pulcheriopolis after his sister Pulchera."

"Because of its historically significant urban center and because of its many cycles of destruction and reconstruction, almost no archaeological material from Antipatrea's ancient history has come to light. There has never been a systematic archaeological investigation of the city's historic center."

Berat, Albania, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its Ottoman-era architecture, has yielded significant archaeological discoveries revealing its ancient history as Antipatrea. Human settlement in the area dates back to the 4th/3rd millennium B.C., with defensive walls from the 7th-6th century B.C. The city was destroyed by Roman forces in 200 B.C. and remained absent from historical records until the 5th century when Emperor Theodosius II rebuilt it and renamed it Pulcheriopolis. It served as a Byzantine episcopal seat and fortress city until Venetian rule in 1420. Limited archaeological investigation has occurred, with excavations beginning in 1973 and continuing sporadically. Recent discoveries of mosaic floors from Late Antiquity indicate Christian basilicas, providing crucial information about the city's religious and urban development.

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