Ohrid Region

After visiting Ohrid in Northern Macedonia in 2016, six years later we decided to visit Lin and Pogradec, both locations on the Albanian side. The closest we had come to the Albanian border was when we visited the Church of St Naum in Northern Macedonia.

Pogradec is located on a narrow plain between two mountain chains along the southwestern banks of Lake Ohrid. It is a very laid back place which was once a favorite summer escape for many Communist government officials, particularly Enver Hoxha. Nowadays, it seems to be a place where many locals retire. In the morning, many elderly locals meet up along the Pogradec Beach waterfront and Drilon Park to have coffee and play draughts or cards. We stayed in Pogradec for 1 night just in front of Lake Ohrid. Just before entering the city proper, there is a narrow uphill unpaved road which leads to the ruins of the Pogradec Castle which offer a great panoramic view of the lake and city in the morning.

Half way between Pogradec and Lin, there are several reed beds (good for birdwatching) and small camping sites. There's also a bicycle lane if you'd like to cycle to and from Pogradec or Lin. We weren't impressed by Pogradec as a WHS, so we decided to give Lin a try, which turned out to be a wise choice. If you had to opt for visiting only one of these two locations, definitely go for Lin. Lin is a village …

The mountains of the Balkans contain a world treasure: Lake Ohrid. As it happens, the lake is halfway between Tirana and Skopje, which made it a perfect break on our Balkans road trip. As we learned, this lake is more than the border between Albania and the Republic of Macedonia: it is one of the world’s most important lakes...and is Europe’s oldest geologically since it dates from the pre-glacial era.

Lake Ohrid is home to over 200 endemic species and is a critical habitat for migratory birds. As such, this is considered the most biologically diverse lake on earth. For this reason, Lake Ohrid was recognized as one of the first one hundred UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We were seriously disappointed that we didn’t have enough time to go scuba diving in the lake!

However, we learned Lake Ohrid is recognized by UNESCO both for the environment, but also for the incredible cultural contributions of the region. As it turns out, the town of Ohrid on the banks of the lake is one of the oldest areas of human inhabitation in Europe (and the world). The town dates from the Bronze Age.

In more recent times, this was an important Greek settlement and the ancient theatre here is one of the largest in the Greek world. It’s home to a popular summer music festival. The ‘Golden Age’ of Ohrid was the Tsar period and the fortress on the hill dates from this era (late 10th century).

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Ohrid is the largest lake in Macedonia and is located southern part of the country. The lake is shared with Albania, but the world heritage site portion is entirely within Macedonia.

Ohrid is very easy to visit and is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Macedonia with plenty of hotels and restaurants in town.

Most of the cultural and historic can be reached by walking to taxi in town, but if you want to explore the rest of the lake you should either go on a boat trip, or rent a car.

Read more about the Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region on my website.

I visited this mixed WHS in March 2016. There are only 28 mixed WHS on the list and I must say that they rarely disappoint. Lake Ohrid is FYROM's/Macedonia's only WHS and also its main tourist attraction. However, tourist crowds flock mainly in the summer months, so I was really surprised to be able to enjoy the main sites alone most of the time. I drove from Skopje to Lagadin which is a very straightforward journey and it's signposted well from the airport. The Unesco road sign is already proudly displayed almost 190km away! The lake management is quite rigorous and no water sports are allowed. Only boats allowed are a couple of fishing boats mainly used for sunset trips from Ohrid to Sveti Johan over at Kaneo or else 2 ferries from Ohrid to Sveti Naum. There are a few dodgy concrete lake resort structures which have been built too close to the shores and have reduced the reed beds surrounding the lake. However, there aren't any high structures and Ohrid's landscape is really lovely with the city walls high above and several churches to visit. Although practically all the lake towns are included in the inscription, all the main sites are around Ohrid proper and then there's a lovely monastery 29km away, just 4 km from the Albanian border, that shouldn't be missed. It has some of the best frescoes inside and it's still used as a place of worship today. It's a very tranquil place with peacocks …

The “Natural and cultural heritage of the Ohrid Region” spans a large area in and around the Macedonian side of Lake Ohrid. The Republic of Macedonia owns about two-thirds of the lake, the remaining third is on Albania’s Tentative List as a transboundary extension. The site includes the lake, towns at the lakeshore (such as Struga, Pestani, Trpejca and of course Ohrid itself), and also single monasteries like Sveti Stefan and Sveti Naum. And it encompasses a part of Galičica National Park - a protected natural area that covers the mountains surrounding the lake on the Macedonian side.

I spent 3 nights in the town of Ohrid, and had 2 full days to explore. On my first day I ‘did’ the cultural circuit in Ohrid itself. First the short hike to the lovely Church of St. John at Kaneo. And then uphill to the archaeological site of Plaošnik. This was a big surprise: about half of the area is subject to an archaeological survey or under construction for who knows what. The church of Saint Panteleimon itself is an ‘instoration’ – it was almost completely rebuilt (using the old materials) over the last years under the watchful eyes of ICOMOS. The result is too brand new to my taste, but it still is the most sacred place of the Macedonian Orthodox Church. The mosaics of the old basilica on the same grounds are worth a visit though.

I did see many more churches, icons and related objects, but …

Ohrid town has much of architectural interest and there is a lot of attractive scenery around the lake. Bear in mind, though, that it is also a major tourist resort - more so for Macedonians that others - with all that entails. There is some distinctive domestic architecture in the town, although this is rather limited and the principal interest is in the churches and their frescoes. There are many but St. Sophia, for its size and age, and St. John, Kaneo, for its site above the lake are arguably two of the best. (It is also worth mentioning that other such churches are dotted around Macedonia, e.g. Nerezi near Skopje.)

If there are a few too many tourists in and around Ohrid, drive over the mountain road (with good views of both lakes) to Lake Prespa, rather wilder and much less developed but with some interesting villages (such as Brajcino and Maloviste) and churches (e.g. Kurbinovo) within easy reach.

I have been to Ohrid many times and i must tell you it is the best place to be. It lake looks like dazzeling beads in the sun and the city reminds you of the olden days. Not all the city is old. Part of it has a new landscape to it. There are many beautiful churches there with millions of Byzantine-style icons. Trust me, you will love it if you go there!