N. MACEDONIA – OHRID

APRIL 18-19, 2025

I had booked an AirBnb inside the old city walls. It was convenient and inexpensive. Go figure. We checked in then headed out to check out the city.

The first stop was the CHURCH of SAINTS CLEMENT of OHRID and PANTELEIMON.

It is located just metres from Lake Ohrid.

St. Clement arrived in Ohrid in the late 9^th century and restored an old church. He eventually built a new one over the old one and assigned St. Panteleimon as its patron saint, hence the double name. St. Clement used the church to teach his disciples the alphabets used for translating the Bible into the Slavic language, making it one of the oldest universities in Europe.

The building is made of blueish stones and red and white bricks. The non-uniformly shaped towers and pitches of the roof give it a mystical appearance. The interior has brightly coloured paintings and frescoes, likely from the restorations in the early 21^st century.

A lot of the original stone work is visible as well as chunks of the floor mosaics.

Some of the interior walls were also constructed of stone and brick, making for a visually pleasing effect.

The windows had a cross in the round panes of glass.

Nearby the church was the baptistery. Much of the original mosaic floor is still visible.

There was an archaeological site close by, but it was cordoned off.

The next day we walked around the rest of the old city. We saw a workshop where a man demonstrated how to make paper. We were going to buy a small picture, but they were very expensive; and in hindsight, where would we put it?

We walked along the walls of KING SAMOIL FORTRESS. There was really nothing else to see or do there.

We walked past the ANCIENT THEATRE of OHRID. It is still in use!

We went to see the CHURCH of ST. SOPHIA. The exterior was similar to the the Church of Saints Clement of Ohrid and Panteleimon, in that it had bricks laid out in beautiful patterns and it had unusual shaped towers.

It has a large collection of religious paintings, as well as old frescoes.

There were a pair of large and beautifully carved candlesticks.

Pierre lifted one up to show me that it was actually a mortar shell.

To be honest, I was more intrigued with the cherry tree in full blossom in the courtyard.

We saw a little church, no bigger than a small house.

It was the CHURCH OF ST. BOGORODICA BOLNICHKA. “Bolnicka” translates to “of the hospital” commemorating its role as a quarantine station during the Black Plague. Folklore says there are dark corridors beneath the building that is home to nasty forces. Tragic events during baptism and weddings have fuelled these myths, leading to the prohibition of holding mass or other ceremonies within the walls since 1694. The guide’s Rasputin-like appearance added to the mystique.

I bought a string of pearls in one of the many, many pearl shops.

We took a walk along the water, but passed on the expensive lunch.

Instead, we ate a few blocks from the water’s edge, watching the hoards of people passing by.

We popped into the ALI PASHA MOSQUE. Next to the mosque was a foot wash station.

We passed by a 1000 year old tree. It needed bracing to stand.

We made it back to our guesthouse and did a load of laundry. We played a few games of crib while we waited for our clothes to dry in the sun.

We loaded the car to get an early start to Skopje.

ON THE ROAD NOTES:

There was LOTS of road construction. It did not really interfere with our driving, but there was evidence of new roads and bridges everywhere.

We passed on one bridge that seemed miles long. It twisted and curved and was hard to determine if it was one continuous bridge or anchored to cliffs in places.