Bazaar street and plane tree
The paved bazaar street from the lake to the square with the Činar, an ancient plane tree that tradition links to St. Clement.
These are the stories you can open in the 3D view, each at its own numbered point on the model.
This is the Činar, an oriental plane and the oldest and largest tree in Ohrid. It is protected as a natural monument. Nobody knows its exact age. Tradition says St. Clement planted it in the 9th or 10th century; another tradition dates it to the 15th century. The square around it is still where the town meets.
Step under the crown. The trunk is a broad, broken-topped stump, hollow on one side, with big limbs growing out of it. Branches broke off in storms in 2012, and props and braces now help carry the weight. A girth is often quoted for the tree, but no figure could be verified for this guide, so we leave it out.
The square at the top of the bazaar street is named after the Kruševo Republic of 1903. Cafés put out their umbrellas here, and an octagonal fountain basin sits in the middle. On the north side stand the white walls and slim minaret of the Zeynel Abidin Pasha tekke. Streets leave the square in several directions; the bazaar street runs south to the lake.
The white buildings behind the square are the tekke of Zeynel Abidin Pasha, a lodge of the Halveti dervish order. Its prayer hall also served as the hall for the dervishes' ceremonies. Sources date it to the 17th century but disagree on the exact years. It is still in use, so visit quietly, outside prayer times. The tekke has its own place in this guide.
Behind the shops on the east side of the street rises the Ali Pasha Mosque, a few steps south of the Činar. A tall white drum carries its lead dome, and a porch with three small domes faces the square. It is an active mosque, so visit outside prayer times and dress modestly. Its building history was not verified for this guide, so we give no date.
This paved street is the old Ohrid bazaar, the čaršija. Its official name is Sv. Kliment Ohridski, and it is closed to cars. It runs about 250 metres from the lake front up to the square. Low shop-houses line both sides: shops at street level, plastered rooms above, awnings against the sun. Walk it in the evening, when the lamps are lit.
The Ottomans took Ohrid in 1395, and it became the seat of the Sanjak of Ohrid. Over the following centuries the town spread from inside the old walls down towards the lake shore, and trade gathered here, in the bazaar. Churches, mosques and the dervish lodge stood a few streets apart. Ottoman rule in Ohrid ended in November 1912.
Follow the street south and it bends west towards the water. About 500 metres from the Činar, on flat ground, you reach the harbour, where boats leave for the monastery of St. Naum and for the Bay of Bones. From there the old town climbs the hill to the west, up to St. Sophia and Tsar Samuel's Fortress.
Typical prices are our estimates for orientation, not menu prices. Check opening hours on the spot.
Walk around the model, switch between day and night, and hear each story read aloud in English, Macedonian or Turkish.
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