The major center of southern Slav learning was established here in the 10th century, and since that time countless frescoes, mosaics and icons have been created. Over the centuries an enormous and colorful heritage of beautiful architecture, magnificent artifacts, crafts and traditions has evolved. Combined with its scenic lake and mountainscape, interesting architecture, climate, local hospitality, and delicious fresh food, a visit to Ohrid area will prove deeply rewarding.
dominates the town and provides an excellent vantage point of the lake and the mountains. Czar Samuel (976 - 1014) turned Ohrid into a capital of a big state which, beside Macedonia, had included much of the Balkan Peninsula.
The three kilometers of towers and high walls, were originally built to protect the town on the three sides not facing the lake.
The ruins of this monumental church stand on the spot called Plaoshnik, one of the most serene places in the old part of the town. It was probably built and decorated in the 5th century when Ohrid (at that time known as Lychnidos) was an important early Christian center.
This basilica has been erected on the foundations of an older classical temple and has trefoil shape. Unknown artists decorated it with magnificent mosaics with figurative and zoomorphic motifs.
(St. Clement)
The extraordinary architecture and stunning wall paintings make this church one of the most significant medieval monuments in Macedonia. The church has been erected and painted in 1295. After the conversion of St. Sophia into a mosque during the Ottoman domination, this became the cathedral church of the Ohrid Archbishopric and was renamed St. Clement. The most important treasures of the church - the frescoes are works of the eminent painters Michael and Eutychios whose dramatic expressiveness was the basis for the new trend in Byzantine art from this epoch called "The Renaissance of the Paleologues".
Acknowledged as one of the most valuable in the world, this is a collection of icons painted between 11th and 19th century. Some are covered with silver coatings decorated with miniature figures of prophets and various saints, scenes from the Old and New Testament, as well as floral and geometrical ornaments.
The gallery is located next to the church of St. Clement in Ohrid.
The picturesque church of St. John the Theologian dates from the end of the 13th century. Standing alone on a cliff above the lake and near the fishing settlement of Kaneo, it is one of the landmarks of Ohrid. It affords magnificent views of the town of Ohrid and the lake surrounded by high mountains.
The cathedral temple of the Ohrid archbishops is the largest and most magnificently preserved monument of church architecture in Ohrid and Macedonia. The exceptional 11th century frescoes in St. Sophia are among the best achievements in medieval painting from the period of the Macedonian dynasty in Byzantium.
During the Ohrid Summer Festival, the church is used as a venue for concerts and plays due to the exceptional quality of its acoustics.