Things to do in Ohrid
Ohrid lies on the shore of Lake Ohrid, in the south-west of North Macedonia. The old town climbs a hill above the water: from the harbour and the bazaar up through the Upper Gate to Tsar Samuel’s Fortress, past churches, the ancient theatre and Plaošnik, with St. John at Kaneo on a cliff over the lake. The Bay of Bones and the Monastery of St. Naum lie further south along the shore. Ohrid and its lake are a UNESCO World Heritage site.
In the old town and centre
-
Lower Gate square
The small square where the Lower Gate of the walled town stood, about 50 m from the shore, by the Bolnički churches.
-
Hristo Uzunov memorial house
The family house of the revolutionary Hristo Uzunov, now a small memorial museum.
-
Ali Pasha Mosque
A mosque on the bazaar street, a few steps south of the Činar.
-
Handmade paper workshop
A small workshop near St. Sophia where paper is made by hand and printed on an old press.
-
Icon Gallery
Icons from the 11th to the 19th century in the precinct of Peribleptos, about thirty of them counted among major Byzantine works.
-
Lakeside boardwalk to Kaneo
A wooden walkway fixed to the cliff just above the water, linking the beach below St. Sophia with Kaneo.
-
Grigor Prličev memorial house
The house of the 19th-century poet and teacher Grigor Prličev, run by the Ohrid museum.
-
Kaneo beach
A small gravel beach below the Kaneo church, with fish restaurants on platforms over the water.
-
Church of St. John at Kaneo
A small 13th-century church of brick and stone on a rock above the lake, the best-known view in Ohrid.
-
Tsar Samuel's Fortress
The walled citadel on top of the old town, about 100 m above the lake, with a wall-walk and views over the whole town.
-
Ancient Theatre
A Hellenistic theatre from around 200 BC, later used by the Romans for gladiator fights, and a summer festival stage again since 2001.
-
Plaošnik: St. Clement and Panteleimon
St. Clement's church of 893, rebuilt in 2002, beside an early-Christian basilica with floor mosaics of birds, deer and the rivers of Paradise.
-
Church of St. Sophia
The cathedral of the medieval archbishopric, mostly 11th century, with major Byzantine frescoes and a two-storey arcaded west front of 1313–1314.
-
Holy Mother of God Peribleptos
A church of 1295 by the Upper Gate, painted by Michael and Eutychios, later called St. Clement because his relics were kept here.
-
Robev Family House (National Museum)
A merchant family's double house of 1863, white upper floors over a stone base, now a museum of archaeology and Ohrid woodcarving.
-
Upper Gate (Gorna Porta)
The only town gate that survives whole, built partly from ancient tombstones with Greek and Latin inscriptions.
-
Old Bazaar and the Činar
The paved bazaar street from the lake to the square with the Činar, an ancient plane tree that tradition links to St. Clement.
-
Zeynel Abidin Pasha (Halveti) Tekke
A 17th-century Halveti dervish lodge with its mosque, tomb and fountain on the Činar square, still in use.
-
Harbour and lake promenade
The town harbour below the old town, where boats leave for St. Naum and the Bay of Bones, with monuments to Clement, Naum, Cyril and Methodius.
-
St. Nicholas Bolnički and Holy Mother of God Bolnička
Two small 14th-century churches facing each other by the Lower Gate, named after a medieval hospital that, by tradition, stood here.
Further out
-
Biljana's Springs
Springs on the east side of town, named after the girl in a well-known folk song about bleaching linen.
-
Bay of Bones (Museum on Water)
A reconstructed Bronze and Iron Age pile-dwelling village on a platform over the lake, at Gradište near Peštani, about 16 km south of Ohrid.
-
Monastery of St. Naum
The monastery founded by St. Naum in 905 above the springs at the south end of the lake, about 29 km from Ohrid, where he is buried.