Ohrid is one of the trendiest spots in the entire Balkans. While it being on the shores of the beautiful Lake Ohrid is certainly one of the main reasons for this, one cannot ignore the simple fact that Ohrid, the city itself, is as inviting as it gets as well. Join me as we explore what this lovely city found on the shores of Europe’s oldest natural lake offers to its numerous visitors.
First of all, unlike the rest of Macedonia, Ohrid does not necessarily strike one as a mixed community. For the most part, it is a highly Christian city. This is reflected in what the city has to offer to us, which consists of churches and similar Christian holy sites. You can see the Church of Saint Sophia, one of the more popular sites in Ohrid, photographed above.
While one may assume that the abundance of so many holy sites would mean a lot of decent spots anyone can enter for free, in this case, you would be wrong. For some inexplicable reason, authorities in Ohrid, or perhaps the greater Macedonian Orthodox Church, decided that it would be a good idea to charge people for entering these beautiful churches. While similar practices can be found elsewhere as well, it is never this common in my experience so far.
Though I cannot understand why even an Orthodox Christian would have to pay to enter a church, I will end my criticism of this policy here. To return to more positive issues, you can find quite a few tortoises wondering around the courtyards of these gorgeous churches in Ohrid, which was just adorable.
Speaking of adorable things, there is also a half-submerged vessel that pretends to be a submersible in the marina of Ohrid. You can see this red watercraft make its way all around the nearby waters of Lake Ohrid quite often, as tours aboard it seem to last for just half an hour or so.
After appreciating the previous view a bit, I eventually made my way to the Church of Saint John the Theologian, or the Kaneo Church as it is known among the locals and tourists alike. While the church itself is not that special, its location certainly is.
As you can see, from up close, it is just any other Orthodox church, a rather standard one you can find all around this part of the world. Despite its tiny size, you are expected to cough up some cash to see what is inside once again, which is puzzling to say the least.
In any case, a worthier view is not to be had inside, but outside. If you scale the nearby stairs, you will find yourself here, looking at the Lake Ohrid right behind the Kaneo Church. This view is nothing short of amazing, and it gets even better during sunset. To see what it looks like then, you will have to stick around a bit more.
Though one can never get enough of that view, eventually, I made my way up on the hill that I was standing on. After a while, I came upon this Yugo car. These remnants of Yugoslavia are everywhere in Macedonia, much like how it was in Belgrade.
After that much appreciated Yugoslav break, I eventually made my way to the Church of Holy Mary Peryvleptos, which looks quite decent inside and out. However, other than being charged at the entrance, you are also expected not to take any photographs on the interior. After all, fewer tourists would pay the fee if they could simply enjoy the artwork inside from the comforts of their home. This mercantile mentality simply did not work for me, and thus I refrained from venturing inside the church itself.
While I was a bit let down to see that all these once holy sites were nowadays reduced to mere tourist attractions, I felt quite rejuvenated the moment I turned back from the church, only to be greeted with this view of the Samuel’s Fortress and Ohrid Old Town right below it. This hilly touristic center of the town is spectacular and is free to wonder around as much as you want.
For example, you can see the Ancient Macedonian Theatre of Ohrid completely free of charge. Though it could not possibly compete with the likes of the ancient Greek theatre in Ephesus, for a free ancient structure, it certainly did the job. There were ongoing works to use this space as a venue for the ongoing jazz festival in town, though I never really made it back to see how it looked like once the preparations were over.
On my way back to the city’s marina, I was lucky enough to pass by what appeared to be a chapel. After checking it out on Google Maps and seeing that it was named Church of Saint Varvara, I was certain that despite its size, I found yet another fully fledged church. Unfortunately, its gates were all locked. This was the first time I actually wanted to pay to see what was inside this tiny temple, alas, it was not possible.
Down the road, I looked upon the Church of Saint Sophia once again, and realized that I ended up doing a full circle as I wondered around some of the best spots Ohrid has to offer. This made me realize just how little time is actually required to see most of the landmarks Ohrid has.
Beyond the boundaries of the Old Town, the Chinar Tree can be considered as one of the lesser centres of Ohrid today. It is, if I may say so, the Turkish center of the town. It is no secret that Turkish tourist groups are quite abundant in Ohrid, and they are usually let go by their guides at around this part of the town as this is where you can find the majority of restaurants and tea houses the city has to offer.
The part close to the marina can be considered yet another smaller center of attraction that Ohrid has. On an unrelated note, it was certainly quite interesting to see just a few statues and sculptures adorning the streets of Ohrid, knowing the situation in Skopje. Other than a few famous holy figures, one can hardly find any such pieces of art in this part of the country.
While Ohrid is home to a decent number of beautiful old houses, none is more famous than the Robevci Family House. This is likely because it was one of the better-preserved houses in the region, and also because it is now home to a museum. While I did not venture into the museum myself, I did enjoy the exterior of this simple yet charming beauty.
After a short rest back in the apartment, I made my way back to Ohrid’s more touristic parts, with a simple goal in my mind: enjoy the views around the Kaneo Church during sunset!
I have to say that though I was late for the sunset itself, the view from atop only gets better as the time goes on and the moon comes up. While my phone’s camera cannot possibly do it justice, and thus while I have no photographs to prove what I say, you must visit Ohrid just to be able to enjoy its night sky from here if need be. It will be worth your time.
It is also interesting to note that there is a whole walkway that functions as a public park to walk around just beyond the Kaneo Church. Once again, this whole area is best explored after sunset.
To cement the more Christian outlook of the town, overlooking the entire city, one can find the newly built Church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon. There is also a university being built nearby, to teach the next generation of theologians Macedonia will have, which is named St. Klement University. As far as I understood, there is an effort to bring a lot of the clergy and theological institutions in Skopje to Ohrid, where it is supposedly more spiritual, or at the very least, less chaotic than the country’s capital.
All in all, Ohrid manages to amaze all off its visitors, in one way or another. It offers decent beaches (though we preferred to swim elsewhere on Lake Ohrid), interesting religious history, and a very rich cultural life. In fact, plenty of international festivals call Ohrid home. In just a short few days I came across the International Jazz Festival as well as the International Folk Festival, which took place concurrently. Rest assured, you will be able to find something new to enjoy at one part of the town or the other every single night if you decide spending a few nights around Ohrid. This alone is reason enough to visit this gorgeous city that is nestled on the shores of the beautiful Lake Ohrid.