Town gate · walls of the old town
The only town gate that survives whole, built partly from ancient tombstones with Greek and Latin inscriptions.
These are the stories you can open in the 3D view, each at its own numbered point on the model.
This is the Upper Gate, Gorna Porta in Macedonian. The old town of Ohrid was closed by walls that ran down the hill from the fortress, and they had three gates. This one, close to the church of Peribleptos and the ancient theatre, is the only one that survives whole. The street Ilindenska passes through its arch, and cars still use it.
Beside the arch stands a tall square tower, flat on top, rising a few metres above the wall. Tower and wall are built of rough rubble stone. The town walls were about three kilometres long and, depending on the ground, between 3 and 16 metres high. From here they climbed west to the citadel of Samuel's Fortress, which you can see on the hilltop, and ran down towards the lake.
Look closely at the stones around the arch. Marble tombstones with Greek and Latin inscriptions, and other ancient pieces, were built into the gate. Reused stones like these are called spolia: when walls were built or repaired, older carved blocks were taken as building material. In the model the pale slabs only mark the idea; the real pieces are set in their own places in the wall.
The passage is a short vaulted tunnel through the thick wall, about three and a half metres high and a little narrower; a sign on the street limits vehicles to 3.5 metres. Heavy timber doors reinforced with iron straps survive in the gate. Cars and delivery vans still come through the arch, so stand to the side when you stop to look or to take a photo.
The walled town had three gates. Besides this Upper Gate there was the Front Gate, Čelna Porta, near the church of the Holy Mother of God Čelnica, and the Lower Gate, Dolna Porta, near the church of St. Nicholas Bolnički, about 50 metres from the shore. Only the Upper Gate survives whole. The square by the Lower Gate, down near the harbour, still carries its name.
Inside the gate the old town begins. Narrow lanes paved with river stones and setts climb and drop between the houses, with a step wherever the slope gets steep. The old Ohrid house has a stone ground floor and one or two white plastered upper floors, each overhanging the one below, under a hipped roof of red tiles. This lane leads to the church of Peribleptos and the Icon Gallery.
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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