Living history
Bettany Hughes uncovers Albania’s past…
Professor Bettany Hughes is back for a new run of her hit series, taking a look at some remarkable historical sites and telling the stories of the people and places that have shaped our world.
Over six episodes, she’ll travel to Albania, Estonia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and the Eastern Mediterranean, visiting unfolding excavations, hearing tales of incredible civilisations and experiencing some ancient traditions that still take place now.
‘I’m on a journey by land and sea to the most fascinating sites,’ explains Bettany. ‘It’s an adventure uncovering the story of the past and how that shapes who we are today.’
The opening episode sees
Bettany explore Albania’s Adriatic coast, a place that’s been occupied many times, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to communists and Nazis.
And it’s in Berat, where Muslims and Christians live in harmony, that she hears the inspiring story of how the city’s residents came together to hide its Jewish community from the Nazis.
‘Thanks to local families in Berat, Albania ended World
War Two with a bigger Jewish community than it had before,’ reveals Bettany.
In the ancient port city of Oricum, Bettany stands in Julius Caesar’s footsteps, then plunges into
Lake Ohrid’s icy waters to join an excavation of a 7,500-year-old settlement that could rewrite the history of Europe’s first settlers.
‘We forget how crucial ancient Albania was to the story of the world,’ explains Bettany. ‘It might turn up in many other people’s historical narrative, but their history is always their own.’