The most beautiful religious buildings The Great Lakes

It's hard not to fall under the spell of this ^13th century Orthodox church (Црква Свети Јован Канео/Crkva Sveti Jovan Kaneo). It is the most famous and most photographed in the country. It enjoys a sumptuous setting, on a promontory overlooking Lake Ohrid. Located in the district of Kaneo, below the hill of Plaošnik, it is dedicated to Saint John the Theologian, author of the Apocalypse, who, according to a local legend, would have Christianized Ohrid around the year 50. The exact date of construction is not known, but it is estimated that the church was erected by the Byzantines in the 1200s. It was later remodeled, abandoned in the ^15th century when the Christian population was expelled from the city, and restored in the ^19th and ^20th centuries. Of small dimensions and rectangular shape, it adopts the style "with dome on centered plan" typical of Byzantine Armenia. Indeed, the region had a certain Armenian influence from the reign of the Byzantine emperor Basil ^I (867-886), himself of Armenian origin. The walls are built according to the Byzantine technique of "cloisonné" with cut stones enclosed between bricks. Some parts are ornamented by the play of colors and geometric shapes created by the varied positioning of the bricks.

Frescoes of the XIV^e century. The interior is unfortunately very dark. It was also restored in the ^nineteenth and ^twentieth centuries, with the addition of frescoes without much interest and a new iconostasis. The upper part of the apse still has a beautiful ^fourteenth century fresco of the Communion of the Apostles where Christ appears twice distributing bread and wine. Among the other medieval frescoes is a series of portraits of saints whose eyes have been systematically vandalized. We recognize Cyril and Methodius, Clement of Ohrid, John the Theologian and "Erasmus of Ohrid". Finally, the dome is decorated with a set of frescoes of the ^fourteenth century, very damaged, which were discovered during a restoration in 1963. At the top is Christ Pantocrator surrounded by eight angels. In the second register, between the windows of the dome drum, are painted eight prophets from the Old Testament. Descending the steps to the level of the lake, one reaches the small church of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1998) and a small port. From there, you can reach the main port by walking along the coast along a path dotted with bars and restaurants.

This admirable ^13th-century Orthodox church (Црква Пресвета Богородица Перивлептос/Crkva Presveta Bogorodica Perivleptos) is Ohrid's masterpiece. Its epithet Perivleptos means "seen from everywhere" in Greek. As it happens, it sits atop one of the city's three hills, next to the Archbishop's Palace and the Gallery of Icons. Its priceless original Byzantine frescoes mark a turning point in the history of Christian art.

Many names. Since the ^15th century, the church has often been referred to as the "Great Church" or the "Church of St. Clement". During the Ottoman period, it was a cathedral and housed the relics of St. Clement of Ohrid. This sometimes leads to confusion, but in the town, English-language signs read "Church Mother of God Peribleptos". This epithet of Perivleptos (or Peribleptos) comes from the miraculous icon of the Mother of God Perivleptos, held since the ^11th century by the monastery of the same name in Constantinople. The name was later adopted by prestigious sites housing a copy of the icon, such as Mystra in the Peloponnese. A fragment of the ^13th-century icon of the Mother of God Perivleptos from Ohrid is kept in the Icon Gallery (no. 81 in the collection), but is rarely exhibited.

History. The church was completed in 1295, following the reconquest of Ohrid by the Byzantines in 1290, and was commissioned by the Greek general Progonos Sgouros, governor of the principality of Arbëria (now Albania), who was married into the family of the Byzantine emperor Andronic II Palaeologus. The names of both men appear in the inscription above the west door inside the narthex, along with the year 6803 of the Byzantine calendar (the year 1295). The interior was then decorated by the two famous painters Michalis Astrapas and Eutychios. In 1365, when Ohrid belonged to the Serbian Empire, two parecclesions (side chapels) were added to the north and south. They were commissioned by Gregory, Serbian bishop of Devoll, an Albanian region bordering Ohrid. New frescoes were added later in the ^14th and ^16th centuries. In the early ^15th century, shortly after the arrival of the Ottomans (1395), Saint Sophia Cathedral was transformed into a mosque. The Church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos thus became the new seat of the archbishopric. It also inherited the relics of St. Clement of Ohrid from the church of St. Panteleimon, also converted into a mosque. The Church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos retained the title of cathedral until the abolition of the Ohrid archbishopric in 1767. The relics of St. Clement were transferred to the new church on Plaošnik Hill in 2002. In 1516, the cathedral church became an "archdiocesan museum", where the archbishopric transferred the region's most important manuscripts and icons. Although not an exhibition space, the city boasts the "oldest museum in the world". This tradition continues with the Ohrid National Museum, which manages the prestigious Gallery of Icons and boasts one of the world's oldest collections of Slavonic manuscripts. From the ^19th century onwards, when Orthodox Christians once again became the majority in Ohrid, the exterior of the building was modified, notably with the addition of an exonarthex. In 1862, the monastery's outbuildings were destroyed by fire. In 1924, a bell tower was erected on the north-west side of the church. Finally, from the 1950s onwards, major restoration campaigns were launched. The most recent phase was completed in 2017 with the renovation of part of the frescoes.

Architecture. Recognizable by its drum-mounted central dome and elegant stack of roof cornices, the current building takes the form of a rectangle 15 metres wide by 20 metres long. The original church (8 x 17 m) is almost invisible from the outside. It is concealed by two later structures: two long ^14th-century side chapels, to the north and south; and an exonarthex with four columns on the façade, added in the ^19th century, to the west. Inside, however, the 1295 building is well preserved. It opens with a small narthex to the west. This is followed by the naos, dominated by the dome. The dome is supported by four pillars delimiting the choir and forming an inscribed cross plan. Finally, to the east, the sanctuary (reserved for the clergy) includes the altar, which ends in an apse, with two small areas on either side for the preparation of the liturgy ("mass" for the Orthodox). At first glance, the exterior materials resemble those of a traditional southern Balkan house: walls made of uncut stone, themselves bound with a lot of mortar and set between beech beams. These are fairly recent parts, of no real value. But if you look up at the dome or go to the apse, you'll find much more elaborate Byzantine techniques: "cloisonné" walls with cut stones set between flat bricks, and complex brick assemblies used to create a variety of patterns (meanders, checkerboard, etc.).

Michalis Astrapas and Eutychios. The most precious and beautiful frescoes are to be found in the original church, particularly in the naos. These consist of four cycles illustrating the liturgy (life of the Mother of God, life of Christ, Passion of Christ, great Orthodox feasts) and a vast series of portraits of saints (martyrs, Church fathers, prophets, local saints, etc.). They were painted in 1294-1295 by Michalis Astrapas and Eutychios. These two Greek brothers from Thessalonica were among the most important Balkan artists of the Middle Ages. Both painters discreetly signed their work. The inscription "By the hand of Michalis" appears on the sword of Saint Mercury and on the cloak of Saint Demetrios. The name Eutychios can be seen on the cloak of Saint Procopius. Michalis Astrapas ("Michael the Lightning") and Eutychios (sometimes called Eutychès in French) were trained by the monk-painters of Mount Athos. This was their first major work. Later, the two brothers entered the service of the Serbian king Milutin. For him, they created the decor for three other churches in Kosovo and Serbia, now classified as Unesco World Heritage sites. In the Republic of Macedonia, we owe them the remarkable frescoes of the Church of St. George in Staro Nagoričane (1318), near Kumanovo, and those of the Church of St. Nicetas (1324), near Skopje. With the decoration of the Mother of God-Perivleptos, the two painters broke with the maniera graeca (classical Byzantine style), which was very rigid, by doing much more than describing biblical episodes. They convey emotions through almost unprecedented scenes of tenderness. And with graphic innovations such as the use of perspective, realistic expressions and floating figures, they heralded the revival of European painting. Ten years later, most of their discoveries were to be found in the frescoes of the Scrovegni chapel in Padua, Italy, the first masterpiece by Giotto, the precursor of the Italian Renaissance.

Fresco of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Located above the entrance to the naos, this is one of the most striking frescoes in this church, itself dedicated to the Mother of God. It has been the central theme of Eastern pictorial art since the ^8th century: Mary's "sleep"(kimisis in Greek, dormitio in Latin) or, more prosaically, her death. This episode is almost absent from Catholic art, which celebrates the "Assumption", the ascent of the Virgin Mary's soul to heaven, on the same day, August 15, without mentioning her physical death. Here, the fresco is the climax of the Mother of God cycle.The painters have taken advantage of the architecture to make the composition more dynamic by linking it to three chronologically related episodes: on either side of the dormition, under the two side arches, the angel announcing Mary's imminent death (left) and the funeral procession leaving for the Mount of Olives (right ) are depicted; and above the dormition, at window level, the scene of Mary's Assumption is painted. The dormition scene itself is beneath the window. And it's packed with detail. Christ appears above the remains of his mother, nimbed in a mandorla. In his arms, he holds a swaddled, winged infant, symbolizing Mary's soul. Surrounding him and the shroud are six archangels, the twelve apostles without halos, and three bishops in prelatic garb. The latter, whom some texts give as witnesses to Mary's death, are the bishops of Athens, Dionysius the Areopagite and Hierotheus, and the bishop of Ephesus, Timothy. Beneath the shroud, in the foreground, the presence of a censer evokes Mary's last words, as described by the apostle Paul: "Light the incense and pray." Above Christ (and below the actual church window) is painted the blue dome of the gateway to Paradise, from which the cohort of angels descends to fetch the soul of the deceased. The decor is composed of two houses representing the places where Mary lived, in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Then, in the side sections, thirteen strange conch-shaped clouds appear, carrying fourteen figures. Each of the twelve apostles, this time haloed, has its own "vessel". At the top right, a cloud led by Archangel Michael welcomes the Mother of God, dressed in black. The latter passes on her girdle (evoking her chastity) to the apostle Thomas, who had doubted Christ's resurrection. At the very top, around the window, the theme of the Assumption is symbolized by the apostles arranged in two semi-circles. They are haloed and seated on their thrones to celebrate the imminent arrival of the soul of the Mother of God. Finally, at bottom right, the last figure in the funeral procession catches the eye. This is Jephonias, a Jewish priest. He is dressed in red and his face has been vandalized. For trying to overturn the body of the Mother of God, his forearms are severed by the sword of the Archangel Michael. In the apocryphal writings, Jephonias is the symbol of the redemption of the Jews who refused to hear Christ's message, and was miraculously healed after his conversion.

Fresco of the Deploration of Christ. This episode in the cycle of the Passion of Christ is painted on the north wall of the naos, to the left of the dome area. Michalis Astrapas and Eutychios recount the lamentations of the Mother of God and the disciples after Christ's death on the cross. For its impact on art history, this is the church's most significant fresco. In fact, for reasons that specialists cannot explain, it bears a striking resemblance to The Deposition from the Cross, painted ten years later by Giotto in the Scrovegni chapel (1305) in Padua. These two innovative works on the same theme represent a turning point in European art. Yet only Giotto's work has achieved fame, being considered the first milestone of the pre-Renaissance movement. The strongest element in Ohrid and Padua is Mary's immense distress. Kneeling before the body of her son, she is ready to faint, held back only by the hands of the mourners surrounding her. The mourners are far more demonstrative. The second common and striking element is the unusual image of angels floating above the scene. They are desperate, and some are weeping too. Finally, there are three apostles here too, but in different postures: John kisses Christ's hand, Peter kisses his feet and Paul remains slightly apart. The only area that distinguishes the Ohrid and Padua frescoes is the foreground, where a series of objects are shown: the spear of the soldier who pierced Jesus' right side during the crucifixion, the rope used to lower the cross, a basket containing the tools used to remove the nails, and the vase of perfumed oil used to anoint the body before burial. All these objects brought back from the Holy Land were venerated as relics. For Byzantine painters, the need to depict them became necessary because, since the sacking of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204, most of these relics had disappeared.

Other frescoes. Correspondences with Giotto can be noted elsewhere in the church, such as in the beautiful scene at the "Golden Door", where Mary's parents meet for the first time after learning that they would finally have a child. In a completely new way, as in Padua, the emotion is there: Anne and Joachim embrace and hug each other tenderly. Another innovation is the scene of the "Nativity of Mary", in which, probably for the first time in Christian art, the infant Mary appears in a cradle. This realism also reflects the changing place of the newborn in medieval society. Finally, note the way in which both painters depicted Judas, the apostle who facilitated Jesus' arrest. In the dynamic scene of the "Kiss of Judas", the gesture by which Judas points out Jesus to the Jewish soldiers who have come to arrest him, the "traitor" is classically depicted as already fallen, without a halo. But in the "Communion of the Apostles" in the apse, Judas has regained his halo. Even more astonishing, he is the first of the disciples to drink from the chalice held by Christ. This time, the painters take up the vision of certain great theologians who insist not on Judas' "betrayal", but on his "imprudence", the apostle not having measured the consequences of his actions in denouncing the one he loved.

This Orthodox monastery (Манастир Свети Наум/Manastir Sveti Naum) was founded between 893 and 905 by Saint Naum of Ohrid and Bulgarian King Boris ^I (reign 852-889). It is dedicated to the archangels Gabriel and Michael. Nestled on a cliff on the shores of Lake Ohrid, 600 m from the Albanian border, this 30-hectare complex enjoys a magnificent setting. Surrounded by greenery and the springs that feed the lake, the monastery is famous for its free-roaming peacocks and the excellent raki sold by the monks. Having belonged to Albania from 1912 to 1925, it is one of the holiest and most visited places in Northern Macedonia. It was extensively remodeled and enlarged up to the ^16th century, and part of the buildings were rebuilt after a fire in 1875. Today, there is a large ^19th-century circular building housing the monks' cells and the Sveti Naum hotel, several churches and chapels, a harbor for tour boats, souvenir stores, sacred springs and a small lake. At the center of the complex, the Church of the Archangels-Gabriel-and-Michel (Црква Архангели Гаврил и Михаил) forms the catholicon (main church) of the monastery. The ^10th-century building followed a trefoil plan modeled on the church of the monastery of St. Panteleimon in Ohrid. Only the black and white marble floor has been preserved. The original church was destroyed before the ^13th century, then rebuilt in Byzantine style in the ^16th century. The porch pillars bear inscriptions in Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets from the ^10th-12th centuries, among the oldest epigraphic traces in Slavic literature.

Tomb of Saint Naum. All interior walls are painted. But only a few fragments from the ^16th-17th centuries remain. Most of the frescoes were executed between 1800 and 1806 in a "medieval" style by an Albanian artist from Korça called Terpo. On the right, after the narthex, the chapel dates from 1799. Topped by a large dome, it houses the tomb of Saint Naum, where the saint was buried in 910. The tomb is the object of deep devotion, including within the local Muslim community. Tradition has it that people bend over the tomb to hear the saint's heart beating and make a vow. The chapel is decorated with frescoes depicting miracles attributed to Naum, some of which are not lacking in piquancy: a monk caught trying to steal the saint's relics, the healing of a mentally ill man, a domesticated bear, a horse thief caught at the monastery gates and a mysterious bucket that left its imprint on the rocks.

Cupolas and iconostasis. The dome of the narthex features portraits of the archangels and Boris ^I, who financed the construction of the monastery after abdicating to become a monk in 889. The dome of the nave is decorated with a superb Mother of God, surrounded by representations of the evangelists Cyril and Methodius and some of their disciples, such as Clement and Naum. The carved wooden iconostasis dates from 1711. It is the oldest in the country. Its icons were painted in the same period by Konstandin Shpataraku, of the Albanian school of Berat and father of the Terpo painter who did the frescoes. Among the icons in the iconostasis, note the Mother of God Eleousa ("of tenderness"), the portraits of the archangels and that of Saint Marina holding the devil by the horns.

Founded in the ^11th century, this Orthodox cathedral (Црква Света Софија/Crkva Sveta Sofija) is the largest medieval building in the country and is the headquarters of the Autocephalous Church of Macedonia. Dedicated to St. Sophia, a ^2nd-century Roman martyr who embodied divine Wisdom, it houses some of the best-preserved ^11th-century frescoes in the world that bear witness to the schism of 1054. Its complex architecture reflects a long and eventful history: it is of Byzantine style but does not have a central dome, its naos has three naves as the ancient temples and its general plan follows the shape of a T whose upper bar is constituted by a monumental exonarthex without equivalent in the Balkans. It was moreover transformed into mosque during four centuries. The entrance is always done by the Ottoman porch which dates from the ^15th or ^16th century.

History. The site was first occupied by an ancient Greek temple, then by a Roman civil basilica, itself replaced in the ^sixth century by a Christian basilica. Around 880, the Bulgarian emperor Boris ^I and Saint Clement of Ohrid had a basilica built here. This one is transformed around 990, when Samuel ^Ier chooses Ohrid as capital of the Bulgarian Empire. Of still modest dimensions, the building adopts the plan of an ancient basilica with three parallel naves. The present cathedral was founded between 1037 and 1056 by the Byzantine prelate Leo, second archbishop of Ohrid. It is then conceived as the symbol of the Byzantine reconquest of the region. It became the seat of the "Bulgarian" archbishopric of Ohrid, in theory independent, but directly subjected to the patriarch of Constantinople. If the Bulgarian basilica disappears, the three-aisle plan is preserved. The new building stretches towards the west where it ends with a narthex. The whole is surmounted by a central dome, whose four pillars give the naos the cross-shaped plan of Byzantine churches. Between 1317 and 1334, the Byzantine archbishop of Ohrid, Gregory ^I, had a monumental double-storey exonarthex of 30 m length placed on the west side. The construction of this "Gregory Gallery" remains an enigma. Why such a construction site? And who financed it? Indeed, Ohrid did not belong to any great power, but to local Albanian nobles. The city will pass under Serbian control in 1334. It is the rich Greek-Serbian lord Jovan Oliver (to whom we owe the church of Lesnovo) who will finance the frescos around 1340-1355. The Ottomans transformed the cathedral into a mosque at the beginning of the ^15th century. The central dome is removed and, as the direction of prayer of Muslims is towards Mecca, southeast, a new entrance is created northwest, with a porch placed along the naos. The "Gregory Gallery" is condemned, but it serves as a support for the minaret, installed on its northern tower. Inside, the frescoes are hidden. A mirhab, a niche indicating the direction of Mecca for prayer, was installed. As for the marble iconostasis, it was dismantled to be used for the construction of the minbar (pulpit). The mosque retains its old name, however, since it is called Büyük Ayasofya Camii in Turkish, ie "Great Mosque of Saint Sophia. After the departure of the majority of the Muslim population in 1912, the mosque serves as a warehouse. The building is the subject of a major renovation from 1949: all the attributes of the old mosque are gradually removed and part of the Christian frescoes are rediscovered. In 1959, the cathedral is reopened to the worship and becomes the seat of the new Orthodox Church of Macedonia. The place is however rarely used for worship. Known for its good acoustics, the naos is mainly used for concerts of sacred or secular music, in particular within the framework of the summer festival of Ohrid (from mid-July to mid-August).

Historical significance of the frescos. As the double gallery of the exonarthex and the narthex are closed to visits, only the naos is accessible. But it is the naos that contains the oldest and most precious frescoes of the cathedral. Painted by unknown artists, they were made during the great schism of 1054 between the Eastern and Western Churches. It is the main visual testimony of this historical event according to the official Byzantine point of view. Their commissioner, Archbishop Leo of Ohrid, was indeed a close collaborator of Michael ^I Cerular, the Patriarch of Constantinople who was excommunicated by the papal legates on July 16, 1054, the date that marked the definitive separation between Catholics and Orthodox.

Frescoes on the west wall. Most of the remarkable ^11th century frescoes are in the choir and apse. But the central part of the west wall, immediately to the right after the entrance, preserves several other frescoes from the same period. They are placed above the old main entrance that connected the narthex to the naos. If they are damaged, one can recognize the scenes of the Presentation in the Temple, the Nativity of Christ and the Dormition of the Mother of God. The latter is one of the oldest of its kind in the world.

Iconostasis and foundations. Barring the eastern part of the three naves, the marble iconostasis was added in 2015, and the icons it houses are of no historical value. As is the Eastern tradition, this partition serves to separate the naos from the sanctuary reserved for the communing clergy. One can therefore no longer admire the amazing frescoes behind it, notably the portraits of the six Roman popes painted in the diakonon (sacristy), to the right of the altar: in the context of the schism of 1054, it was a question of putting the bishops of Rome on the same level as the sixty other Christian prelates painted throughout the sanctuary. Above all, it is a pity that the minbar (pulpit) of the old mosque was demolished in 2000. However, this one was precisely made of finely carved elements from the iconostasis of the ^eleventh century. On the other hand, openings in the floor and glass panels allow us to see the foundations of the old Bulgarian basilica as well as the remarkable ^14th century marble carved ambo (lectern). Behind the iconostasis, the highest frescoes of the central apse are clearly visible. The ensemble is dominated by the Mother of God Throne of Wisdom painted on a blue background of lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, the most precious pigment of the Middle Ages. Below is the scene of the Communion of the Apostles. Christ the priest is placed under the ciborium of the altar. He makes the sign of blessing and holds the paten, the round plate used to distribute the amnos ("lamb" in Greek), that is, the leavened bread symbolizing the sacrifice of the body of Christ. The presence of the paten is unusual: it is an evocation of the dispute over the divine liturgy (the Eucharist for Catholics) which was one of the triggers of the schism of 1054.

Fresco on the choir vault. Shortly before the iconostasis, the semicircular vault is occupied by a large scene of the Ascension: Christ appears in the center, in a mandorla supported by four angels. Further down, on either side, stand the apostles, the Mother of God and the archangels Michael and Gabriel. In the next register are five archangels kneeling on either side. This is another reference to the rupture of 1054: the archangels represent the Pentarchy, that is, the original organization of Christianity with the five patriarchal Churches of Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Jerusalem and Rome.

Frescoes on the walls of the choir. On both sides of the vault, several scenes are loaded with symbols related to the schism of 1054. Thus, on the south side (on the right when facing the apse), the damaged representation of the Hospitality of Abraham is a double blow. First of all, the three angels appear here as the three incarnations of God and are seated in the prophet's home in the same plane. This goes against the dogma of the Filioque developed in the West, which establishes a hierarchy between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Then there is the dish prepared by Sarah (in the background, on the left) and served by Abraham, kneeling: it is leavened bread, the kind reserved in the East for the divine liturgy. The same bread that the Pope, in 1054, wanted to replace with unleavened bread as in the West. On the north side, the oldest known representation of the Liturgy of Basil the Great appears: the ^4th century bishop prepares the sacrament of communion under the ciborium. The work serves here as a reminder that the Byzantine rite, unlike Western practice, has not deviated from the origins of Christianity.

Exonarthex. When leaving the cathedral, turn left in the small park and left again to go down the stairs to Ilindenska Street. This is where the monumental facade designed around 1317 by Archbishop Gregory ^I is finally revealed. Today, the exonarthex is almost unnoticed in the urban fabric. At the time of its construction, this structure was enhanced by the creation of a vast square. However, the latter disappeared when the exonarthex was condemned during the Ottoman period. Partially cleared since the 1950s, the square now hosts an open-air theater. From the terraces, one can have a little distance to admire the facade with its two lateral towers surmounted by domes mounted on drums, its two open galleries and its 30 m length. The base of the walls is composed of large carved stones, some of which, bearing engravings and inscriptions in Greek, are replacements from the ancient theater. The towers are mostly mounted in "cloisonné", a Byzantine technique consisting of framing cut stones between mortar and flat tiles. In the central part, bricks are practically the only material used. They form eight arcades supported by five pillars and four columns in the lower gallery, then seventeen blind niches in the next row. The upper gallery is the most famous: it is represented on the reverse side of the 1,000 denar banknotes. Its style is neat, with four elegant triplets separated by three cul-de-four niches. Finally, the whole is dominated by a long inscription in Greek. It is the dedication of the patron, Gregory ^I. It reads: "Gregory, Moses of the new Israel, teaches the wisdom of the divine law to the Mesians." The "Mesians" are the inhabitants of Mesia, a Roman province that lay west of the Danube. It is by this name that the Byzantines designated the Bulgarians of Ohrid in the Middle Ages.

Erected in 1313, this Orthodox church (Црква Свети Никола Болнички/Crkva Sveti Nikola Bolnički) was part of a complex housing a hospital that served as a quarantine place for travelers. A unique case in the country, a two-bay wall-belfry is directly integrated into the building: it is an influence of the Romanesque architecture of the Dalmatian coast, which was then, like Ohrid, under Serbian control. The frescoes date from the beginning of the ^14th to the end of the ^15th century. Those on the south wall are the best preserved with portraits executed around 1340: St. Nicholas, St. Clement of Ohrid, St. Panteleimon and the Anargyrian saints Como and Damian. Below are six portraits of great Serbian figures added in 1345. Archbishop Nicholas ^I of Ohrid appears with the man he enthroned as emperor in Skopje in 1346, Dušan, next to him. Next is his wife, Helen of Bulgaria, and their son, the future Uroš V. On the right, the series ends with St. Sava, founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church, and his father St. Simeon, founder of the Nemanjić dynasty in 1166. In the courtyard are visible the remains of the city walls. Right next to it are the Cultura 365 center and the Church of the Mother of God of the Hospital. The latter was built around 1368. It was used for women in quarantine. The frescoes on the vaults date from the ^14th century, but the decoration of the walls was made in the ^19th century, as was the carved wooden iconostasis.

Founded in the early ^14th century, this Orthodox monastery is dedicated to the dormition of the Mother of God (Манастир Рождество на Пресветата Богородица/Manastir Roždestvo na Presvetata Bogorodica). It features a seven-hundred-year-old plane tree, the summer residence of the Archbishop of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, a modern church and the rock church around which the complex was built. The latter is housed in a cave that has been occupied by hermits since the ^11th century. It comprises three spaces on two levels, accessible via staircases and narrow passages cut into the rock. The walls are almost entirely decorated with frescoes created between the early ^14th and ^16th centuries. Among them, the oldest scene is the Vision of Saint Peter of Alexandria: a 12-year-old child in torn clothes appears to the Patriarch of Alexandria; he claims to have been attacked by the priest Arius (condemned for heresy at the Council of Nicaea in 325) and announces to Peter that he will die a martyr's death. Also of note are the portraits of the archangels Gabriel and Michael guarding the entrance to the church and a representation, unique in the Balkans, of the two holy healers of Nicomedia (today Izmir, Turkey) Saint Hermolaos and Saint Panteleimon, the former teaching Christianity to the latter. The grotto also boasts two reputedly miraculous springs dedicated to the apostle Peter and Saint Ananias of Damascus (the apostle Paul's healer).

This Orthodox church (Црквата Свети Ѓорѓи/Crkvata Sveti Gorgi) houses some of the most precious frescoes in the Balkans. Built in the late ^12th century, it belonged to a monastery whose other buildings have disappeared. Its frescoes are dated 1191: an inscription on the apse indicates that the (anonymous) painters began work on April 25 of that year. They are, according to researchers, an "extreme culmination" of the great artistic movement of the Byzantine Comnenes dynasty (1081-1185), whose influence can be seen as far afield as the West.

Building. Situated on a flattened hill surrounded by trees, the church offers a beautiful panorama of Lake Prespa. It resembles a farmhouse, a rectangular building (17 x 7 m) built of stone and brick lintels, which was modified in the 1920s: a porch and wooden ceiling were added, and the south and north entrances were converted into windows. Under the porch remain ^12th-century frescoes: portraits of Saints George, Theodore and Demetrios on horseback, of the donors (an unidentified Byzantine noble couple), of Byzantine Emperor Isaac II Angel (1185-1204) with his wife, and of Ohrid Archbishop John V Kamateros (1183-1216). Inside, the 5 m-high walls are covered with frescoes, with the exception of some lost sections, notably on the west wall and on the upper areas. However, the church has no iconostasis or icons of any value.

The apse. The eastern wall, facing the main entrance, is adorned with the most important and best-preserved frescoes. The pediment, above the apsidal conch, features the Pentecost scene (revelation of the Holy Spirit): Christ in majesty - badly damaged - appears to the Mother of God, surrounded by the archangels Gabriel and Michael, and the apostles. The conch itself develops the theme of the Annunciation (the archangel Gabriel announcing to Mary her divine maternity): the Mother of God presents the infant Jesus as a symbol of the Lamb of God (sacrificial victim). She is again flanked by the archangels Gabriel (left) and Michael. This particularly famous depiction of Gabriel, nicknamed the "Angel of Kurbinovo", appears on 50-denar banknotes. On either side of the conch are Gabriel and Mary. Finally, the altar and side walls feature the Fathers of the Church, St. George, St. Erasmus, the evangelists St. Cyril and Methodius and their disciple St. Clement of Ohrid, St. Achilles of Larissa (patron of the Bulgarian Emperor Samuel) and the Catholic Pope Clement III (who tried to avoid schism with the Orthodox). In addition to its stylistic quality (supple bodies, rendering of drapery, etc.), this cycle contains exemplary elements both politically (Bulgarian heritage, relations with Rome) and iconographically, with the oldest fresco of St. Methodius and the only ^12th-century portrait of St. Clement of Ohrid. Finally, this is the first time in Byzantine iconography that the amnos (theme of the Lamb of God) is depicted in this way, surrounded by representatives of the Church, heaven and earth, a form that was later standardized.

South wall. To the right of the main entrance, the wall is decorated with the cycle of the Great Feasts (Nativity, Baptism of Christ, etc.). These include the double scene of the Visitation, at the corner with the east wall (apse): Mary, who has just learned that she is pregnant, goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, herself pregnant by Saint John the Baptist. In the first scene, young Mary is reunited with Elizabeth, a tired old woman. They embrace and kiss. The second scene, partly deleted, illustrates the last three months of Elizabeth's pregnancy, during which the two women live together. The reunion scene is particularly moving. It illustrates the complicity of motherhood that unites the two cousins. Such an outpouring of emotion is uncommon in Christian art. In fact, it is one of the most striking scenes of the Visitation in Christian iconography. The theme of motherhood recurs in the lower area, near the door, with a rare scene: Mary as a child being suckled by her mother, Saint Anne.

Other frescoes. Around the main entrance, the western wall is richly decorated. The pediment is dominated by the Pantheon of Saints, incompletely preserved. This is also where the cycle of the Great Festivals, begun on the south wall, and the Passion on the north wall, come to an end. Among the most striking scenes are the Ascension, with Christ dispensing living waters (symbolizing the Holy Spirit and eternal life) surrounded by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist, and the entry into Jerusalem, the Transfiguration (Christ reveals his divine nature to the apostles Peter, James and John), the Dormition of the Mother of God, the Last Judgment and the Theophany of the Ancient of Days (divine revelation of the coming of the Messiah) marked by the presence of cherubim, seraphim and angels. Also of note is Saint Marine stunning Beelzebub. On the north wall, scenes from the Crucifixion and Lamentations (Passion cycle) stand out, as does the large portrait of St. George, answering the portrait of Christ, symbol of Peace, on the south wall.

Set into a cliff on the edge of the lake, this Orthodox rock church (Црква Свети Атанасиј/Crkva Sveti Atanasij) dates from the ^mid-14th century. It houses superb frescoes from the 1360s, which were rediscovered during a restoration in 1964. Particularly noteworthy are the portraits of saints (St. Clement of Ohrid, St. Nicholas, St. Petka, etc.), inspired by those in St. Sophia Cathedral in Ohrid, but more realistic and "alive", with magnificent drapery in particular.

This Orthodox rock chapel (Црква Света Богородица Пештанска/Crkva Sveta Bogorodica Peštanska) is adorned with ^14th-century frescoes. Heavily denatured by the lake's humidity, the pigments were applied directly to the rock. However, representations of some of the great Orthodox feasts are still recognizable: the Annunciation, the Nativity, the Baptism of Christ... Only accessible from Gradište beach, the chapel is frequently visited by bathing-suited worshippers.

This Orthodox chapel (Црквата Света Богородица Захумска/Crkvata Sveta Bogorodica Zahumska) is located on a ridge above Lake Ohrid, at an altitude of 1,005 m above sea level. An elegant little Byzantine building dating from 1299, it is reminiscent of the Church of St. John in Kaneo, Ohrid. Its frescoes, painted in 1361, are badly damaged. However, a rare scene inspired by a fresco in the Church of St. George in Kurbinovo (Lake Prespa) remains: the Virgin Child suckling by her mother, St. Anne.

This small Orthodox rock church (Црква Свети Стефан Панцир/Crkva Sveti Stefan Pancir) has been nestled in a cliff since the ^13th century. Behind a modern facade and bell tower, it preserves frescoes painted on the rock dating from the ^14th and ^15th centuries, including a Virgin in Majesty and an Eye of Providence. The church belongs to the almost abandoned village of Šipokno/Шипокно (on the heights) and gives its name to the hotel zone of Sveti Stefan (along the lake).

Situated at an altitude of 1,240 m, this Orthodox monastery (Сливнички Манастир/Slivnički Manastir) is dedicated to the Nativity of the Mother of God. Built between 1607 and 1645 by the Bulgarian clergy, it enjoys a beautiful setting on the slopes of Mount Baba with a grandiose panorama of the two Prespa lakes. Spared by French artillery fire in 1917 and restored in the 1990s, the complex is renowned for its miraculous spring, but has not been home to a monastic community since the ^19th century. However, it is possible to sleep here (20 rooms of rather spartan comfort) and is the starting point for hikes in the Pelister National Park. The catholicon (main church) is richly frescoed between 1607 and 1645. The main donors to the monastery are featured prominently. Among them, a certain Michel Petkov from Monastir (Bitola) had his son Kupen, who died prematurely in 1599, depicted in ceremonial dress in the northern part of the apse near the altar. Around the altar are portraits of the Slav evangelizers St. Cyril of Thessalonica, St. Clement and St. Naum of Ohrid, St. Gorazd of Bulgaria and St. Angelar of Ohrid. A rare depiction of Sisoes the Great (^6th-century Egyptian anchorite) lamenting over the skeleton of Alexander the Great can be found on a windowsill on the south wall. The church also boasts a fine iconostasis, whose royal doors and large icons also date from the ^17th century.

Offering a beautiful view of the lake, this recent Orthodox church (Црква Свети Климент и Пантелејмон/Crkva Sveti Kliment i Pantelejmon) was completed in 2002. It follows the supposed model of the church of St. Panteleimon erected here by St. Clement of Ohrid in 893 and transformed into a mosque in the ^15th century. The latter, left abandoned since the departure of the Turkish population in 1912, was destroyed and only the base of the old church has been preserved. Of enormous appearance with a narthex (to the north), a porch (to the south), two domes, a bell tower (to the west), an apse and its apsidioles (to the east), the building in fact houses a rather narrow naos. On the lower parts of the walls, a zinc joint is supposed to mark the limit between recent areas and the foundations of the ^ninth century. Mosaics from a^{fifth-century} baptistery are displayed in the porch. In the naos, part of the ancient foundations is visible under glass panels and fragments of ^{fourteenth-century} frescoes remain around the altar. Finally, the relics of St. Clement have been placed in the crypt in which he was buried in 916, to the right of the iconostasis. Outside, opposite the main entrance, is the atrium of the Ohrid literary school. In all likelihood, the first Slavic-language university was founded here by Clement of Orhid in the ^9th century. Classes were held in this double peristyle, some of whose columns have been removed.

This Sufi place of worship (Теќе Зејнел Абедин-Паша/Teḱe Zejnel Abedin-Paša) is an ancient mosque founded by Governor Aliağazâde Zeynelâbidin Paşa in the ^16th century. In 1766, it was entrusted by decree of the Sultan to the Sufi brotherhood of the Halevis. From then on, the building became the âsitâne (mother house) of the halevis in the Ohrid region. Other buildings and türbes (tombs) were added until the ^19th century. Today unused, it is one of the very few tekkes in the Balkans with a minaret. It is 18 m high and dates from the ^17th century.

This mosque (Џамија Хаџи Торгут/Džamija Hadži Torgut, Xhamia e Haxhi Durgutit) is the oldest in the city. It was built in 1466 on the site of the Byzantine church Agia Kyriaki (Saint Dominic). Legend has it that its minaret collapsed several times, until the cross of the old church was installed at the top. Even today, the minaret (about 20 m high) is topped by a small stylized Christian cross, a unique case in the world. The building is nicknamed "Mosque of the Cross" (Крст Џамија/Krst Džamija).

This mosque (Алипашина Џамија/Alipašina Džamija, Xhamia e Ali Pashës) constitutes the heart of the sharia. Founded in 1573, it took its present name around 1823, when the pasha of Belgrade Maraşlı Ali Paşa extended his territory to here. Square in shape (15 x 15 m), it originally had two minarets, one of which was destroyed during the First Balkan War, the other during the Second World War. The interior has walnut elements and an inscription of the Shahada, the first pillar of Islam. It is the center of the Sunni community in Ohrid.

Nestled in a cliff, this Orthodox cave church (Црква Свети Архангел Михаил/Crkva Sveti Arhangel Mihail) houses a fine set of ^14th-century frescoes. The grotto also features a ^13th-century fresco in poor condition depicting the miracle of Chône: the archangel Michael - here painted on horseback holding a spear - diverting the water that threatened to flood the Christian village of Chône, in Phrygia (modern-day Turkey), after pagans destroyed a dam upstream.

Curiously isolated on a block of stone, this Islamic mausoleum (Турбе Синан Челеби/Turbo Sinan Čelebi) is the only witness to five centuries of Ottoman presence on Plaošnik Hill. In the center of a small group of roofless arcades is the sarcophagus of Sinan Yusuf Çelebi, buried here in 1493. He was a prominent member of the powerful Turkish Ohrizade family and was responsible for several monuments in the lower town in the ^15th century which have now disappeared. It is also him who transformed the Saint-Panteleimon church into a mosque.

This Orthodox monastery (Брајчински Манастир/Brajčinski Manastir) was founded in the ^15th century by Bulgarian clergy. Dedicated to Saint Petka (also known as Saint Paraskeva of the Balkans), it boasts a church that preserves frescoes painted in the ^16th and ^18th centuries, including beautifully colored portraits of the archangel Michael and the prophet Jeremiah. Abandoned following a fire in 1902 and restored in the 1980s, the complex no longer has a permanent monastic community, but attracts pilgrims due to the presence of a reputedly miraculous spring.

This Orthodox cave church (Црквата Свети Еразмо Охридски/Crkvata Sveti Erazmo Ohridski) is dedicated to a mysterious local saint, St. Erasmus of Ohrid, a tutelary figure for local Christians since the^5th century. According to legend, the cave and its surroundings were once home to a community of hermits founded by the saint. Extensively altered up to the present day, the church features frescoes painted between the ^13th and ^18th centuries, including a large portrait of Theodore Doukas Comnenus, Byzantine ruler of Macedonia and Thrace after the Crusaders took Constantinople in 1204. It remains one of the country's most important rock churches. Today, it is at the center of a small religious complex. The cult of Erasmus remained strong in the region, even after the arrival of the Slavs. Thus, some 200 m to the south, along the main road, the ruins of a large ^12th-century church, also dedicated to St. Erasmus, were recently uncovered, along with a necropolis containing 124 tombs dating from the ^6th to ^12th centuries. From the St. Erasmus complex, a short cement road (approx. 200 m) leads near the top of the Gabavci hill topped by a cross, where you'll find the rock chapel of St. Catherine (Света Екатерина), where you can enjoy a magnificent panorama of Lake Ohrid. Behind the chapel are the remains of the Engelana fortress founded by the Enhélien tribe in the ^4th century BC.