Ohrid in Macedonia - The Jerusalem of the Balkans

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Located on Lake Ohrid, Ohrid is a lovely holiday town in North Macedonia. The city has a long history and is today one of the most popular tourist destinations in North Macedonia, especially in the summer. Ohrid's beautiful lakeside location, together with its rich history, makes it an ideal holiday destination. Here you will find great opportunities for swimming and boat trips, restaurants, shopping and several historically interesting sights.

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Ohrid in Macedonia

Perhaps you've never thought of Ohrid in North Macedonia as a holiday destination? Think again! The country may not have a sea coast, but they sure know how to enjoy the beautiful Lake Ohrid.

Several towns are located right next to the water and in the summer these towns blossom into real holiday resorts and are stunningly beautiful. Here you can sunbathe and swim, shop and sit on outdoor terraces. Ohrid, located southwest of Skopje, is also a nice city, with quiet neighbourhoods, lush greenery, high mountains and the cheapest in Europe.

Sun and swimming

Swimming in Lake Ohrid and sunbathing on the beaches is what most people do when they visit this holiday town in North Macedonia. There are two beaches in town, where people sit on deckchairs. Many people also swim directly from the rocks and everywhere you see children playing in the water.

There are also plenty of small boats bobbing around on the water, and the occasional swan. The water is crystal clear and blue and really invites you to swim, even though we mostly chose the more quiet beach on the other side of the island. Sunset camping in Struga.

Lake Ohrid at Ohrid

Lake Ohrid is an old and very deep lake, actually the seventh deepest in Europe (289 metres) and among the oldest in the world. Now we are talking 2-4 million years old and there is certainly a lot of history at the bottom of the lake. Two thirds belong to North Macedonia and one third to Albania.

What is unique about Lake Ohrid is that they have 200 endemic species in and around the lake. What is meant by endemic species? These are species from biology and ecology that live only in and around Lake Ohrid, and nowhere else in the world. An example is a trout called Ohridska Pastramka which is very tasty.

Old Town of Ohrid (Lychnidos)

The city of Ohrid in Macedonia has existed at least since ancient times, when it was called Lychnidos, and probably much longer than that. Ohrid is pronounced (Okrid) and was first mentioned around 879. That the city is really old is evident in some parts, where you can walk around on cobblestones from the Roman Empire. There are also carvings in Greek on large blocks of stone interspersed among the residential buildings.

Amphitheatre in Ohrid

The ruins of an ancient amphitheatre! The amphitheatre (built in 200 BC) was found by chance during a construction project. The Romans used the amphitheatre for gladiatorial games and as a place of execution. The locals hated what the Romans did, and when the Romans left the country, everything was covered over by the locals. We're lucky for that today or it might have all been gone.

The Cyrillic alphabet was created in Ohrid

Ohrid was an important early cultural centre. Via Ignatia was a Roman trade route that passed through old Ohrid (Lychnidos). Later, the first Cyrillic alphabet was created here in Ohrid by Sveti Kiril and Metodij.

Tsar Samuil

In 1000, the city was briefly the capital of Macedonia's first Slavic kingdom under Tsar Samuil, which was then the Bulgarian Empire. The ruins of Tsar Samuil's castle were restored a few years ago and now sit atop the mountain above the city.

It provides some much-needed exercise to get up here, and as well as seeing the castle, you get great views of Ohrid, Lake Ohrid and Albania on the other side of the lake.

Balkans Jerusalem

There are also plenty of churches to look at. The city is actually famous for once having 365 (!) churches, one for each day of the year, and has been called the "Jerusalem of the Balkans". Whether it's true that there were really that many churches is a little unclear. If you want to take a look at some churches today, you can choose St. Sophia's church in the centre of the city.

Sveti Jovan Kaneo

The most famous church is called Sveti Jovan Kaneo (St John's Church in Kaneo) and is located with a notoriously beautiful view of Lake Ohrid. Imagine that the city belonged to the Ottoman Empire for 514 years between 1398-1912.

Unesco World Heritage Site in Ohrid

Because of its history and churches, Ohrid was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. The UNESCO World Heritage Site includes Lake Ohrid, the town of Struga and the town of Pogrades on the Albanian side of Lake Ohrid.

Church of St Panteleimon

The church of St Panteleimon which has St Sveti Kliment Ohridski 840-916 buried here. It is in the centre of the village of Nerezi on Mount Vodno that you will also find Byzantine frescoes from the 12th century. He was the first to make a Cyrillic language in writing, and is located nearby.

Shopping in Ohrid

When you're tired of the sights, you can spend a few hours shopping. There are lots of clothes shops in Ohrid and the prices are very, very low, compared to what we are used to in Sweden.

We still walked around many shops before we found something we liked. The Macedonian women seem to have a little more preference for wild combinations of pastel colours, embroidery, flowers and sequins than we Swedes. Maybe it's us who are a bit "boring"?

Affordable food in Ohrid

There were no floral and no sequins for us, but in the end we still made some really good finds. We bought three pairs of jeans (120-180 SEK each) and three tank tops (29-38 SEK each). What fantastic prices!

We also indulged in a lunch with a pizza to share and two large beers (total 69 kr) and one ice cream (10 kr each). It's easy to holiday and treat yourself to a little extra luxury with these price levels!

See more: Struga near Ohrid

Struga. The area around Lake Ohrid is very nice and there is more to see than just the city of Ohrid. We can highly recommend a visit to the city Strugawhich, although a little smaller, is just as charming.

Museum on water

Museum on Water. We can also recommend a visit to the museum Museum on water(Bay of Bones), which reconstructed the type of prehistoric settlements that existed on Lake Ohrid long before Christ. People at that time realised that it was convenient to live on stilts on the water, so that their food (fish) was right under them. Convenient, and interesting to see!

Monastery of Saint Naum

Orthodox Monastery of Saint Naum (Sveti Naum in Macedonian) is located 30 km south of Ohrid and dates from the year 905. The monastery was established in the Bulgarian Empire and Saint Naum is buried here in the monastery.

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