Holiday in Ohrid

About Ohrid

Ohrid is the "Jerusalem of the Balkans" and one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlement areas in Europe. The city on the eponymous lake, one of the oldest and deepest lakes in Europe, combines early Christian churches, a medieval fortress, and turquoise water into a package that is recognized as a double UNESCO World Heritage Site (Nature AND Culture). Lake Ohrid is three million years old, 288 meters deep, and has a clarity reminiscent of mountain lakes. The color of the water changes from turquoise to cobalt blue to deep blue — depending on the time of day and light conditions. On warm summer days, the lake is a perfect bathing area: clean, calm, and surrounded by mountains. The beaches in the south around the Sveti Naum Monastery are particularly picturesque. Ohrid was a center of Christian scholarship in the Middle Ages — here, the Cyrillic alphabet was co-developed and the first Slavic university was founded. The city once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year. The Church of St. John at Kaneo, perched on a rock above the lake, is the iconic image of Ohrid — a small Byzantine church with the endless blue of the lake as a backdrop. The old town climbs from the lakeshore up the hill to the Samuel Fortress, built by Bulgaria's most powerful medieval ruler. The fortress walls offer a 360-degree view over the lake and the surrounding mountains. Below lies a labyrinth of Ottoman houses, narrow alleys, and small squares with restaurants and cafés. The ancient theater from the Hellenistic period is still used today for concerts and performances — Shakespeare under the stars with the lake as a backdrop is an unforgettable experience. Ohrid is also famous for its unique Ohrid pearls, made from the scales of a fish that only occurs here.