So have you been to Ohrid? You haven’t been to Ohrid yet? You have to go see Ohrid. …… I have been hearing statements like that since I got to Macedonia. Prior to arriving in Macedonia I had heard about the beauties of Ohrid, so I knew how important it was to get there… but this far into my stay, I still had not been. Thus the comments I started with. People could not believe that I had not made it there yet! That all changed today with the help of Vesna!
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| St. Clement of Ohridski |
A little history before getting into our journey- Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. The lake is over 3 million years old. Ohrid first was mentioned in Greek documents in 353 BC, the name then was Lychnidos “city of light”. It was in 879 AD that it was renamed to Ohrid. It was taken over by the Byzantines in 1018, before that it had been under the Bulgarian Empire.
We set off on the drive about 9:15am. We arrived in Ohrid and went straight to coffee and to meet one of Vesna's college friends. The coffee shop we sat it was right on the lake, and had a beautiful view. We had our sunglasses on, but it wasn't really that sunny, but we didn't give up, we kept trying to get that sun to peak out. Really though, the pictures that came from the sun peaking through the clouds were worth the lack of shine! Cassidy and I journeyed out to the end of a walk way... it is the walkway that is in the Brandt Travel Guide, and my grandma really wanted me to find it during my time in Ohrid. So I recreated the picture... without the swimming suit though, it was a bit cold for that :)
After coffee we began our walk through the city and up the mountain to the fortress. Along the way we saw some great sites! About half the way up we arrived at the Ancient theater of Ohrid. It was built in the Hllenistic period, in 200 BC. During roman times it was used for gladiator fights, but through the years it was used for the execution of Christians by the Romans so it quickly became a place that was despised by locals so it was buried. That is the reason it is so well preserved today. It was accidentally uncovered in the 1980's when building and construction of houses in the area was occurring. Being there was really interesting, I just stood in quite and looked around awestruck at where I was and what was surrounding me...
We then continued on our journey... Ohrid has 365 churches in the town, and although we didn't get to all of them, we did get to see several:
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The fortress wall went a good portion of the way down the mountain side. We got to walk through the gate to the other side. We then continued walking up….
We then walked down the mountain on the other side where we got to see Bysinten ruins that were being excavated. In the middle of the ruins is an area of mosaics. Unfortunately since it is the off season for tourists, they were being cleaned so we did not get to see them. Also on the grounds of the ruins is St. John Church, it was actually built in 2002 as a replica from the time.
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| Albania in the background |
Along the water side is a board walk that goes from the church back to the center. We took several pictures there. Also along the walkway, there was an area you could throw a coin into the water and make a wish on your astrological sign. I tossed in my coin- but I can't tell you my wish or it won't come true.
It was an amazing day! Getting to spend time with Vesna before she leaves for America was so special. Now Cassidy and I can say, "why, yes, we have been to Ohrid and it is beautiful!"
Lesson: Words are not needed to realize the beauty and history of something, sometimes just “being” is good enough!
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