Stunning Lake Ohrid, Macedonia.

Our apartment is just fantastic.  We stayed up late watching CSI Miami and slept right through to 7am. After playing around on the bikes and doing some research on the net it was time to walk the streets on our rest day in Ohrid.

I went to the top of the hill to check out the fortress that overlooks the lake and the township, and other historical sites which I photographed and gave a brief overview of the history.  Every now and then I get the urge to enlighten my readers on the history of some of the places we are so fortunate to visit on this tour.  

 The photo above is of the Ancient theatre of Ohrid. It was built in 200 BC and is the only  Hellenic type theatre in the country. It is unclear how many people the original theatre used to seat, as only the lower section still exists. The open theatre has a perfect location: the two hills that surround it keep it protected from winds that could interfere with acoustics during performances.

During Roman times, the theatre was also used for gladiator fights. However, since the theatre was also a site of executions of Christians by the Romans, it rapidly turned to a highly disliked site by the locals. In fact, as a result of this dislike, the theatre was abandoned and buried by the locals after the demise of the Roman Empire. Fortunately, this allowed for most of the structure to be well preserved, only to be uncovered accidentally in the 1980s. Namely, during construction work around some of the houses in the area, large stone blocks with carvings of the Greek god Dyonisius and the muses were showing up, which led archaeologists to believe that a Greek theatre (Dyonisius and the muses were related to the performance arts) must have been located nearby.

Since the late 1980s, the theatre is again a site of public performances, such as plays, concerts, operas, ballet performances. Recently, high-profile cultural performances such as those by the Bolshoi and Jose Carreras take place each summer as part of the Ohrid Summer Festival.  Unfortunately Peter and I were about 1 week too late for the concert.

 Our next port of call was the top of the hill. Samuil's Fortress is a fortress in the old town. It was the during the rule of Samuil in the middle-ages. Today, this historical monument is a major tourist attraction and was renovated in 2003. According to recent excavations by Macedonian archaeologists, it was alleged that this fortress was built on the place of an earlier fortification, dated to 4th century B.C., which was probably built by king Phillip II of Macedon. The photo above is of the Samuil's Fortress.

The above photo is of St Clement Church in Ohrid.  Quite spectacular from the outside, but I have no idea what the inside is like because they wouldn't allow me to take photographs.  Such is life. The church is in the old part of the town, near the Upper Gate, in 1295 the church of St. Bogorodica Perivlepta, known as St. Clement, was built. It is one of the oldest churches in Ohrid, and concurrently one of the most beautiful, above all for its frescoes.

According to an inscription on the western entrance of the nartex, the Byzantine military commander and deputy Progon Zgur, a relative of the Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus, built the church. The inscription also states that the church was dedicated to the Holy Mother.When the Turks converted the church St. Clement into a mosque, his remains were first moved to the small church of St. Clement, and later on to the church St. Bogorodica Perivlepta, after which the people simply renamed the church into St. Clement. In the period after the conversion of the church St. Sofia into a mosque, the church St. Clement became the cathedral church of the Ohrid Archiepiscopate. A large number of religious objects, icons, and books were brought to St. Clement. It is known that within the church there was a large Archiepiscopate library that contained papyrus manuscripts from XI and XII century, and old musical notations of Byzantine church songs. Some of these precious objects are preserved to the present day, however the majority was taken from their original home during the devastation that Ohrid and its citizens were exposed to. Also there was a large monastery estate around the church, and the Archiepiscopate Palace was built in its immediate vicinity. However, it was burnt to ashes in the middle of XIX century. The church St. Clement used to be called "The Great Church" because it was the cathedral church of the Ohrid Archiepiscopate.

 

The discovery of the frescoes in the church fundamentally changed the knowledge about art in the late XIII century and the beginning of XIV century, not only in Macedonia, but also in all Orthodox countries in Southeast Europe. They were actually the last phase of the Byzantine culture known as the Palaeologus Renaissance. At the same time, the frescoes of the church St. Clement reveal the work of two artists, Aichael and Eutychus, who for nearly three decades dominated the art of fresco painting in Macedonia and Serbia. 

The northern wall of the church contains portraits of St. Clement of Ohrid and of the Archbishop Constantine Cavassila. The portrait of St. Clement occupies a remarkable position because the citizens of Ohrid believed that he was the protector of the town who watches over the destiny of the people and protects them from diseases and wars. The portrait of the Archbishop Cavassila was also given a notable position because of the extraordinary role he played in governing the Ohrid Archiepiscopate. He was also an esteemed XIII-century politician and poet.

The last church we looked at was the Church of St. Sophia. (See photo above) The church is one of the most important monuments of Macedonia, housing architecture and art from the middle ages. It was built during the first Bulgarian Empire, after the official conversion to Christianity. Some sources date the building of the church during the rule of Knyaz Boris I (852 – 889), others during the rule of Tzar Samuel of Bulgaria. (997 – 1014). Originally the synod church of the Archbishopric of Ohrid, it was later converted into a mosque during the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The interior of the church has been preserved with frescoes which you are not permitted to photograph from the 11th, 12th and 13th century, which represent some of the most significant achievements in Byzantine painting of the time. The main part of the church was built in the 11th century, while external additions were built by Archbishop Grigorie in the 14th century.

So we had a great afternoon and learnt a lot in the process about the history of Ohrid and Macedonia.

Tomorrow we start the long ride to Greece along the shoreline of Lake Ohrid.  Just sitting down having a cup of tea looking out over the lake, looks like it's going to be a fantastic ride tomorrow.

Until tomorrow, safe riding.