Ohrid UNESCO city

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http://www.heygo.com 22nd February - Ohrid, Macedonia



Ohrid is one of the oldest settlements in Europe, and was once considered to be the epicentre of religion and Slavic culture. Nestled between the mountains of Macedonia, three hours outside the capital Skopje with Greece to the South, Bulgaria to the East, Albania to the West & Serbia to the North.

It is Lake Ohrid that makes the city a unique historical artefact. At three million years old, it stands as one of Europe’s oldest and deepest lakes, and gives Ohrid the prestige of being named as both a cultural and natural UNESCO World Heritage site.



We started the tour high on the hill overlooking the lake & Galicia mountains and next to Samuels fortress. It was the capital of Macedonia during the rule of Tsar Samuel at the turn of the 10th century. Today it is a major tourist attraction & was heavily restored in 2003 with the addition of entirely new battlements where none had survived.



As we walked we spotted several old Yugo cars much too the amusement of our guide & fellow guests.

I was enjoying the street lights more that were in the design of the traditional Ohrid houses.



The Ancient Amphi Theatre is near one of the main entrances to the fortified city. The constructors built this ancient theater between two hills which protected it from winds, this also means the ancient theater has incredible acoustics & is chosen as one of the main stages where the Ohrid Summer Festival takes place. World famous singers and actors have performed here, one of the most famous is Jose Carreras, who performed in 2005 in front of 3.500 people, the maximum capacity.

The Ancient Theater dates back to 200 B.C.It was used by the Romans for gladiator fights until the 4th century.



We were in for a treat when Apostollis, our guide took us into a small unpretentious workshop where we watched a demonstration of handmade paper and old-fashioned printing. The paper is made by pressing and drying the slurry of pulp, a technique that’s been used for centuries. The workshop’s printer is an exact replica of Guttenberg’s printing press from the 15th century–it’s only one of two in the world.



Our tour finished overlooking the beautiful crystal clear lake where we heard of the Legend of the Lake.

Where Ohrid Lake existed, there were beautiful flower fields where people took special care of their fields by watering them with a special water. This water was coming from the water well and everyone in the town had to be very careful while using it. After use, the person should cover the well with a stone slab.

People believed that when a young girl was watering the field, the flowers became even more beautiful. That was a tradition, every day a different girl gets ‘’the honor’’ or the task to water the field. The instructions were strict and constantly repeated. After a certain amount of water, the girl had to cover the well.

One girl got distracted by a boy who came and she simply forgot to cover the well. During the night the water came out and covered the beautiful flowers.



I had not heard of Ohrid, it looked a lovely place to take a holiday.

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