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Ohrid
Macedonia
Bec2004-09-15 15:59:10
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church of St-Clement on the grounds of an ancient basilica (The red roof on the right shelters some mosaics associated with the ruined basilica.)
Inside the old city we come to this other gate in the enclosure of an ancient church whose white belfry is visible in this picture.
This 13th century Church of the Mother of God became the cathedral church of the Ohrid Archbishopric and was renamed St-Clement when Sveti Sofiya was converted into a mosque during the Ottoman occupation.
The Ohrid fortress overlooking the city, (and the amphitheatre in the foreground), was built by Tzar Samuel who reigned 38 years from 976 to 1014 when Ohrid was the capital of what was left of the First Bulgar Empire after Byzantium overran most of it.
There is nothing left inside the fortress but it is nonetheless a popular tourist attraction. The well restored walls now enclose an open air theatre stage used during the Ohrid Summer Festival.
The view from the walls of the fortress over the city, the lake and the neighbouring countryside, explains its popularity with the tourists.
I found Ohrid to be a delightful place and recommend it but I don't know what it's like when it's crowded with tourists!
Getting here from Albania was a little awkward but there was an excellent bus service to my next stop Skopje. (It did however go through Tetovo which had recently been plagued by ethnic-religious violence between Orthodox Macedonians and Muslim Albanians.)
Macedonia, like Serbia with Kosovo, includes territories that were the home of ethnic Albanians during the Turkish occupation. The Macedonian majority and the Albanian minority expose their struggle on the Internet.
Copyright Bernard Cloutier
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See photographs from:
Macedonia Gallery
