Balkans - Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia - 2016

Today has been packed with so much variety and so much interest that now, at the end of the day, my head is spinning.  I have just browsed my photos for the day and the total is 350 images, a large number even by my standards.  We started just after dawn in Bitola, and returned to our room in Ohrid well after dark. 

We left Bitola after an excellent breakfast at the extraordinarily good Hotel Theatre, and following the advice of the staff there, took a back-country route to Ohrid.  Travelling west from Bitola, we turned south a little before the town of Resen, taking a road that wound its way through farming country along the northern edge of Lake Prespa.  Lake Prespa is divided between three countries — Macedonia, Greece and Albania — but of course we stayed within Macedonian territory. 

Shortly before reaching the town of Stenje, which is Macedonia’s last settlement before the Albanian border, we took a sharp turn to the right and began a steep climb on a very narrow road that took us through Galičea National Park.  Given the potholed state of the very narrow road, it was good that there were few other cars of the road, although disappointing that every one of the vehicles we met seemed to be driven by someone whose driving style could best be described as ‘effervescent’.

Eventually we reached the top of the mountain range at Baba Pass, where there was a small shrine dedicated to Saint George, and a lookout that gave a panoramic view of Lake Ohrid to the west.  With a surface area of 358 square kilometres, Lake Ohrid has a length (north-south) of 30 kilometres and a width (east-west) of 15 kilometres).  The lake is divided between Albania (the western part of the lake) and Macedonia (the eastern part).  It is an ancient glacial lake, in the same league as Lake Baikal in Russia, Lake Titicaca on the border of Peru and Bolivia, and Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania.  Although the mountain pass was swept by low clouds, the vista of the lake below, bathed in sunshine, was wonderful.

We descended the eastern slope of Lake Ohrid on a road with multiple hair-pin bends, stopping at one more lookout point, Koritski Rid.  At an elevation of 1421 metres, Koritski Rid provided great views of Lake Ohrid, and especially the small settlement of Trpejca beneath us, and in the distance to the north, the town of Ohrid, the largest settlement on the shores of the lake.

Continuing to the bottom of the slope, we took a turn to the left (south) and continued almost to the Albanian border check-point, turning off the road towards the edge of the lake just before the border.  Our destination was the monastery of Sveti Naum, which is anglicised to Saint Nahum.

The monastery is set in beautifully manicured gardens, populated by peacocks, right on the edge of Lake Ohrid.  There was a 10th century church on the site, but it is now buried beneath the 16th century basilica.  The walls of the basilica are covered with frescoes, many of which still look colourful and fresh in spite of their great age.

Returning to our car, we drove to the north along the eastern edge of Lake Ohrid, stopping in Trpejca, the village we had seen from the lookouts at Baba Pass and Koritski Rid.  There was a parking area in the middle of the village, and all the pathways leading away from that point were for pedestrians only.  We took one of the paths, which wound its way steeply down to the water’s edge.  The waters of the lake were crystal clear, and a few people were even sunbathing on the narrow pebble beach at the water’s edge despite the relatively cool temperatures of early summer.

Continuing further north, and just five kilometres south of Ohrid, we took a narrow roadway up into the hills to see one of Lake Ohrid’s famous cave churches.  The one we chose was Sveti Stefan (Saint Stephen’s), which had been recommended in our guidebook.  Originally built into the cliff face in the 9th century, the cave church has a fairly new, quite impressive façade, but the cave church itself has not been enlarged.  To be honest, it could do with some enlarging, as Di and I essentially filled the entire church; it was that small, even though it had two (tiny) rooms.  

Rather than going into Ohrid, we decided to see some interesting places to the north of the town, so we took the by-pass road and drove on to Struga, where we took a turn-off to the north to Vevčani.  Situated high in the mountains near the Albanian border, apparently the residents of Vevčani held a referendum at the time of the break-up of Yugoslavia as to whether they would form their own separate republic.  Although they never gained their independence, they did (for a while) have their own currency and passports, and when we were there today, they were flying their own flag in addition to the Macedonian national flag.

Despite the overcast weather and intermittent rain that had arrived by mid-afternoon, Vevčani was a very beautiful place.  There were many old stone buildings, and even some women wearing traditional dress.  The village has a network of open streams that flow from a large natural spring on the upper edge of the settlement, supplying water to the residents.  The town was noteworthy in another surprising way; it was where I saw my first Trabant for the trip.

It was time to head into Ohrid so we could check into our hotel and begin our walking tour of the town.  Even doing this, we managed to get side-tracked again, and happily so.  As we entered the old section of Ohrid, we stopped to admire a section of the old city wall at the Upper Gate.  The wall was built before the Ottoman Turks invaded in 1395, and after that time, Christians lived within the city walls and Muslims (mainly Turks) lived outside.

From the Upper Gate it was just a short walk to admire the large 2000 year old Roman amphitheatre.  It was buried for many centuries, but was gradually excavated between 1960 and 1990.  It is now used for concerts, and indeed, the sounds of a men’s choir are coming into my hotel room from the amphitheatre as I type this diary.

We were (happily) distracted again before returning to our car, as we took a short walk uphill to explore two churches in the same grounds, Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos (a.k.a. Saint Clement’s Church of the Holy Mother of God Most Glorious), and the smaller Church of Saints Constantine and Helena.

We aimed to enter Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos first, but the woman at the entrance (after asking whether I was priest, and making positive gestures about my beard) seemed keen that we explore the interior of the smaller church first.  Being locked, she pressed the keys to the smaller church into the palm of my hand and gestured where to go.

Once we found the light switch, we discovered that the interior of the smaller church was a veritable art museum of religious frescoes.  I am not sure when this church was built, but judging by its architecture, I would say it was built in the 1200s or 1300s.  My guidebook doesn’t mention the church at all, and the only reference I could find to it online describes it simply thus: “The church is locked and not used.  It is in bad disrepair”.  Perhaps the church is not used, but its wall frescoes were brilliant, being bright, obviously original and beautifully executed.  It was a privilege to have been allowed entry into this very special place.

Returning to the main church (Sveti Bogorodica Perivleptos), our interior visit was much less impressive.  Built in 1295, the interior of the church is under major renovation, and scaffolding was hiding much of the interior, making the frescoes almost impossible to study.  Perhaps the renovation is needed, as it was obvious that centuries of soot from candles had taken a heavy toll on many of the paintings and frescoes in the building.

With sunset fast approaching, it was time to check in to our hotel.  Located in the heart of the old town of Ohrid, the Villa Saint Sofia overlooks the church of the same name.  It is a small hotel, having only five rooms, but we were fortunate in being allocated room 201, which has a balcony overlooking the Church of Saint Sofia, and looking up towards the amphitheatre and the fortress.

Having settled our luggage into the room and found a safe place to park the car in this very congested ancient town, we went for a walk through the old town of Ohrid and along the waterfront of the lake.  We passed ancient churches, walked along pedestrian-only laneways, strolled long a boardwalk that has been built over the water in front of a high cliff, and even found time for dinner in a lovely waterfront restaurant.

It had not been easy to pack so many good things into one day, but somehow we managed.  Our last full day in Macedonia had been a beauty!

Day 10 - Bitola to Ohrid, Macedonia

Wednesday 8 June 2016