Lake Ohrid Region 🇲🇰 North Macedonia - Best Place in Europe

Situated on the shores of Lake Ored, the town of Ored is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. Built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries, it has the oldest Slav monastery, St. Panteleimon, and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons, dating from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. This is undoubtedly the most beautiful and most attractive Macedonian town, with a pearl of old architecture and a treasure of valuable cultural and historical monuments. This city and its historic cultural region are located in a natural setting of exceptional beauty. It was already included in the World Heritage List in October 1979. Ored is one of the rare cities in the Balkans that had thrived uninterruptedly throughout the Classical period. The people survived the decline of Classical civilization and continued to live under their new names till the present day. The soil of this ancient city has seen numerous changes and civilization improvements, followed by the inevitable ups and downs. To speak of the Byzantine impact on Eastern Europe is therefore to consider two phenomena, the expansion of Byzantine civilization beyond the empire's northern frontiers, and the response made to this Christian and imperial challenge by the non-Greek-speaking peoples of Eastern Europe, primarily Slavs and Romanians. Following the creative architectural work in Macedonia, a continuity of intensive production was marked by socio-political, economic and cultural achievements. During the period of settlement in the Macedonian territory, during the 6th and part of the 7th century, architectural work, in comparison with the previous ancient period, decreased. This was influenced by their preparation for new living conditions, in a setting with a rather developed artistic tradition. In the course of the second half of the 9th century, after the conversion to Christianity, architectural activity began in earnest, particularly during the time of Bishops Clement and Naum. The singularity of Macedonia's churches is also attested in many frescoes and icons, unusual for both their subject matter and style. The churches of Orid exhibit more than 2,500 square meters of frescoes and various icons of worldwide fame. The builders of Orid's ancient theatre calculated precisely where to put the building, in the centre of the elevated old town. The open theatre boasts a perfect location, as the two hills keep it protected from winds that could interfere with acoustics during performances. It's an ancient Greek theatre of the Hellenistic period and was built in 200 BC. It's in fact the only Hellenistic theatre in the country. Discovered accidentally and later excavated completely, this 4,000 square meter monument to ancient Greco-Roman culture is used today during the annual Orid Summer Festival, for performances of ancient tragedies and comedies. The theatre offers a wonderful view of Lake Orid and Mount Galicica to the southeast. Lake Orid, which came into being about four to ten million years ago, is Europe's oldest lake and is amongst the oldest in the world. It's a typical oligotropic lake, meaning that it contains low levels of nutrients. In origin, the lake is tectonic and belongs to the so-called group of Deseretian lakes, named after an ancient region called Deseretia. The lake came about in the tertiary period, prior to glaciation. Lake Orid is the distinctive shelter of a large number of freshwater organisms originating from the tertiary period, whose close relatives can be found in fossil forms only. For precisely this reason, it bears the name Museum of Living Fossils. Its remarkable age, continuing existence, geographic isolation and the permanency of its living conditions have enabled most of its inhabitants to continue their process of further evolution up to this day. Lake Orid lies in the valley between Orid and Struga, in the border region between Macedonia and Albania. It covers an area of 360 square kilometers, two-thirds of which belong to the Republic of Macedonia and the rest to the Republic of Albania. The climate in the Lake Orid area is classified as a local continental type. What makes the city an acclaimed tourist center, besides other points of beauty, is the beautiful Lake Orid. This lake is really the most valuable pearl, not only in the Balkans but in Europe too. Both the city and the lake are under the protection of UNESCO. Near the port is the Saint Clement Oridski statue. Saint Clement was a medieval Bulgarian scholar and writer and a pan-Slavic saint. He was the most prominent disciple of Saint Cyril and Methodius. The ancient Orid houses are quite attractive and are live witnesses of a certain traditional Macedonian authentic architecture, conformable with the Lake Orid coast. The Orid house is developed in space on several levels and floors. It lacks only an open plot or minimal porch. Upstairs terraces and two floors make up for the lack, which is unnoticed in other examples from the century. Although there are a small number of rooms in the house, they're assigned to be used for winter and summer dwelling. The contemporary city of Orid is a descendant of the This was confirmed by several Byzantine sources, where it was written This town and the lake will delight not only the recluse and nature lover, but also the historian and antiquarian. The town is a cultural and educational centre. Here, Saint Clement of Orid where 3,500 students were educated. Writing, education and Slavonic culture spread from Orid. The old bazaar of Orid is one of the liveliest parts of the town, especially on the so-called market days, when numerous customers may buy food products as well as various handmade items. Of particular interest are the clay products, the old Macedonian musical instruments and the famous Macedonian embroidery. The town's architecture represents, with its old typical streets and houses and its particular atmosphere around old squares, the best preserved and most complete ensemble of ancient urban architecture of this part of Europe. The existence of this town is also evident from numerous Roman documents. According to them, Lichnidos was located by the the oldest and most important Roman road in the Balkans. It started with two routes, from Apollonia and Dyrrachia, and reached Lichnidos through the Candavian mountains. Long before the Romans came into the region, this route had been used as a communicational link between the coast and the internal parts of Illyria and Macedonia. Via Ignatia was the shortest route from Rome to the Eastern Empire. The earliest inhabitants of the vast Lake Orid region that can be identified by name were Brygians and Anhylians. Brygians are the same as Phrygians. According to Herodotus, the Phrygians from Asia Minor used to live in Europe in the vicinity of the Macedonians and were called Brygians. After the Troy War, they migrated to Asia Minor and changed their name into Phrygians. Historically, Anhylians have been identified as Illyrians. However, it should be underlined that Herodotus and some other historians distinguished them from the Illyrians. The origin of their name, Anhylians, derives from enchilaeus, eel or serpent, and connects this people with the Lichnidos Lake since it's rich in eel. Orid is said to have more than 40 churches or remains of churches. One of the most impressive is the former Cathedral of Sveta Sophia, which has a far more spacious feeling than most of the other churches and some very well-preserved frescoes. The Church of St. Sophia is one of the largest medieval churches in this territory. For a long time, it was the Cathedral Church, the Great Church, of the Orid Archepiscopate. The church was probably used as a cathedral way back in the past, in the period of the Macedonian Tsar Samuel, who in the late 10th century moved his throne from Prespa to Orid. The other assumption is that there used to be another church on the same site during his reign, and that later on, this church was destroyed for unknown reasons. The date of the construction of that church is uncertain, because there are no inscriptions that help reveal it. It's also mentioned that today's church was either built or restored during the period of the Archbishop Leo, who was on the throne of the church in the period between 1035 and 1036. This esteemed ecclesiastical principal became a donor of the painting decorations in the Church of St. Sophia. The original church had only one main dome. In the 14th century, an opulent external narthex was constructed. Its original shape was a three-nave basilica with a transept, a dome and galleries on the side naves. It had a parvus and separate chapels above the northern and southern altar sections, even in the 11th century. The concept of the extended parvus was horizontal, with portico on the ground and galleries on the first floor. Above the Gregorius gallery, on the northern and southern sides, there were separate sections with towers. With the arrival of the Turks, the Church of St. Sophia was converted into a mosque. They took care to reshape the church almost entirely, so that it could serve the Muslim religion. The frescoes were whitewashed, the ornamented plates from the iconostasis were used for constructing the internal staircase, and a minaret was built above the northwest dome. These undertakings distorted the structure of the entire church. The medieval city of Orid has always been a significant cultural and economic center, encompassing an extraordinary combination of natural beauty and human art. Located on the southwestern side of the hill surmounting Lake Orid is the church dedicated to St. John the Theologian, called St. Caneo. Significant to the architecture of the church is the exquisite combination of Byzantine and Armenian elements, which create a very favorable space for examining the medieval monuments in Orid. The architectural shape of the upper part of the cupola, where there are angular prontones on all eight sides, is an exception among other old churches in Macedonia. Its exterior is decorated with ceramic decorative sculptures and stone carvings. This old church is in a cruciform shape with rectangular base. It has a three-sided apse on the eastern side and an octagonal dome. It's essential to note that the structure is harmonious and highly successful in the ornamental shaping of the facades and the dome. Built in honor of St. John the Theologian, St. Caneo, with its sublime atmosphere and views of the placid lake below, remains an inspiring place for spiritual contemplation. The church was constructed during the time of the Orid family Theologite, around 1280, and was consecrated at the end of the 13th century. Here there are dozens of things to do and places to see, museums to visit, churches to admire, castles to explore, and mountains to climb. Or the visitor can just give in to the mesmerizing charm of the lake. St. Clement's Monastery, or St. Panteleimon, is located at Plausnik, known as Imeret during the time of the Turks, south of the Samuel Fortress. This monastery is the oldest Slavic monument of culture. It had an extremely important role in the education of the Macedonians during the period of strong influence of the Byzantine Empire. The monastery was dedicated to St. Panteleimon, the protector of health. Archaeological excavations have revealed that for his needs, St. Clement restored an older church and built another church onto it. There were a number of early Christian buildings on the site. That tells us that ecclesiastical life was thriving even before the arrival of Clement to Orid. During the excavation of the early Christian basilica in the locality of Imeret, remnants of secular Slavic architecture were found. It's believed that this building dates from the earliest period after the migration of the Slavs to the Balkans. In the middle of the 20th century, during the examination of St. Clement's Church of St. Panteleimon at Imeret, it was found that the church was established on the remnants of an early Christian trefoil basilica. The church was ruined by the Ottoman Turks who built a mosque over it. The mosque existed until the year 2000 when it was demolished legally in order to proceed with the renovation of St. Clement's Church. St. Clement of Orid was amongst the students of St. Cyril and Methodius who helped in the mission of Moravia to Rome. After the mission in Rome, he helped St. Methodius in his work in Moravia and Pannonia and later on he assisted him in a defensive way against the attacks of the Latin German priests. After the death of St. Methodius, St. Clement, St. Gnome, Angelarius and St. Sava fled from Moravia. After a long period of torture, they arrived in Pliska. Archaeological excavations in Imeret have uncovered an early Christian polyconch church with remains of magnificent mosaic decorations on the floor. This monumental early Christian temple is located some 10 meters north of St. Clement's Church, St. Panteleimon. Today, Plausnik is one of the most exhilarating Byzantine-style churches in Macedonia. Its floor is covered with mosaics of 20 wave-shaped tassels interspersed with the The very fact of its reconstruction is evidence of the strong affection Macedonians still feel for their Byzantine heritage. The monastery is believed to have been built when St. Clement arrived in Ored at the request of Boris I of Bulgaria and restored an old church. Sources say that St. Clement was not satisfied with the size of the church and therefore built a new one over it and assigned St. Panteleimon as its patron saint. St. Clement used his newly created monastery as a liturgical building and a place for teaching his disciples his variation of the glagolithic alphabet known as the Cyrillic alphabet. The coming of Clement to Macedonia marked the beginning of a new period of art for the region. Objectively speaking, the history of art in these territories represented a history of church art. The influence of Byzantine art is indisputable. Although artistic works created during the time of Clement and the time of Tsar Samuel are exceptions, the construction of the Church of St. Sophia in Constantinople had a decisive influence on establishing criteria for building temples in areas the Orthodox Church dominated. However, during the Macedonian Empire of Samuel, new characteristics can be noticed in Macedonian architecture, long after the Byzantine architectural school had run its course. With the construction of St. Panteleimon in Ored by Clement in 893, down the hill from the Ored fortress, the Macedonian Slavs gained not only their first great religious and educational centre, but also the conditions necessary to develop their aesthetic feelings, accepting and continuing existing artistic forms, but expanding into new directions as well. For example, Clement used a ruined three-concave church for the foundation of St. Panteleimon, added some original parts and obtained new oval forms. The monastery is most famous for its exceptional fresco paintings, which convey dramatic facial expressions and emotions not commonly found in Byzantine art. In 1555, the main dome collapsed, but within a short time, the monastery was restored and repainted. The Ored Archdiopescopate was the only medieval feudal institution that continued to exist in the time of Turkish rule. Why the Turks decided to leave it active can only be assumed. Whatever the reasons, the Archdiopescopate retained full internal autonomy and kept a large portion of its previous rights and privileges. This enabled it to fulfill its role. With the consent and support of the Turkish rulers, after a certain period of time, the Ored Archdiopescopate managed to expand its jurisdiction to new territories. At the beginning of the 15th century, the jurisdiction of the Ored Archdiopescopate covered the epoches of Sofia and Vidin. In the middle of the 15th century, it had expanded to the epoches of Vlaska and Moldavia, and prior to the re-establishment of the Patriarchy of Peć, also parts of the Serbian Church. The settlement of Slavs in the Balkans, their Christianization and the development of Slavic liturgy and literacy, gave a completely new quality to the development of the Church in Macedonia. Prince Boris, after the establishment of the Bulgarian state incorporating a part of Macedonia, ordained Clement as Bishop of Dremvica and Velika in 893, with a residence in Ored, wherein Clement became the first Macedonian Slavic bishop. The religious service in his bishopric was of course held in the language of the Macedonian Slavs, and Ored became an educational, literary and a church centre. With the fall of Ored under Ottoman rule at the end of the 14th century, the Archbishopric of Ored was legalized before the Turkish authorities and its rights were strengthened. For a period in the 15th century, both the territory of Serbia and a part of Bulgaria came under its ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In the Ottoman state, the Archbishops of Ored, particularly in the 17th and 18th centuries, took on the role of popular leaders in the movement for liberation, carrying out talks, predominantly with Austria, concerning the formation of a state for the captive Christians, primarily the Macedonians. The presence of icons inside the Orthodox Church is the principal ornament. The term icon comes from the Greek word icona, which simply means image. The Orthodox believed that the first icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary were painted by Luke the Evangelist. Icons are filled with symbolism, designed to convey information about the person or event depicted. For this reason, icons tend to be formulaic, following a prescribed mythology for how a particular person should be depicted, including hairstyle, body position, clothing and background details. Icon painting in general isn't an opportunity for artistic expression, though each iconographer brings a vision to the piece. Architectural patterns vary in shape and complexity, with chapels sometimes added around the main church or triple altars, but in general, the symbolic layout of the church remains the same. Each church is created with specified qualifications based on what the Apostles said in the Holy Bible. These qualifications include how big the Holy Temple should be. The earliest historic record of the Ored Fortress is its mention by the classical historian Livius in the 3rd century BC, when it was the fortress of the town of Lychnidos. The chronicler Malchus gives the earliest, more detailed description of the fortress in 478 AD. The Ored Fortress of Tsar Samuel was described by the chronicler as a mighty stronghold that even Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, was unable to seize. The Ored Fortress is one of the largest preserved fortifications in the Republic of Macedonia. The fortress served both as a and an inhabited area known as Samuel's Fortress. During the rule of Samuel and of his successors up to 1018, Ored was the capital of the first state of the Macedonian Slavs. Both before and after Samuel's time and that of his successors, the fortress was destroyed and rebuilt. After the transformation of Samuel's state into a political and ecclesiastical seat, Ored became a medieval metropolis. Within the walls there were numerous streets with a large number of multi-story buildings and narrow wooden houses. The town continued to dominate next to its fortress, a true acropolis. Up to the late 14th and early 15th centuries, the inhabited town of Ored existed within the town ramparts. After its seizure by the Ottomans, the arrival of Asia Minor colonists in the 15th century led to its expansion to the lower parts. The walls of this 16-metre high fortress still rise above the city, where concerts, operas and plays are performed each summer. Currently, the Ored Citadel has 18 towers, three of which are semicircular and 15 square-shaped, and four main gates. The Ored Fortress is one of the largest medieval fortifications to be preserved in the Republic of Macedonia. With its massive walls and ramparts, it occupies the entire summit of the hill of Ored. The ancient city of Ored, situated along the coast of the magnificent Lake Ored, is undoubtedly the most beautiful and most attractive Macedonian town, a pearl of old architecture and a treasure of valuable cultural and historical monuments.