Things to see and do Ohrid

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.

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 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.

Ohrid doesn't have a municipal or regional tourist office, but here's the nearest thing to one. Founded in 1975, the Biljana association brings together local historians, archaeologists, ethnologists and tourist guides. By appointment, it organizes guided tours of the monuments of the city of Ohrid, most of the villages on Lake Ohrid and Galičica National Park. It also offers advice and contacts for accommodation in the region.

This archaeological site contains the remains of an early Christian basilica of the ^4th or^5th century (Ранохристијанска Базилика Манчевци/Ranohristijanska Bazilika Mančevci). Discovered in 2007, it preserves the layout of two naves, a large mosaic on the floor and fragments of other mosaics bearing the names of the donors (John and Thomas), a portion of brick wall, three upright columns supporting two reconstructed vaults, as well as various decorative elements in marble.

More often referred to as Mali Sveti Vrači ("Little Holy Doctors"), this small medieval Orthodox church (Црква Свети Кузман и Дамјан/Crkva Sveti Kuzman i Damjan) is dedicated to the Anargyrian (who heal "without asking for money") saints, Como and Damian, Arab physicians and martyrs of the ^4th century. Neither its exact date of construction nor its founder are known, but it houses the oldest carved wooden iconostasis in Northern Macedonia. This one was made in the ^14th century and was renovated in 1964. Very precious with its twisted pillars, it is 3 m long and 1.90 m high. The frescoes, most of them very damaged, were made in the same period. Most notable is the beautiful portrait of the Mother of God Episkepis ("Protector" in Greek) carrying the infant Christ. This is shown on the 1,000 denar banknotes. In the apse of the altar stands out the figure of Konstantin Kabasilas, a Byzantine nobleman who was ordained archbishop of Ohrid around 1250. More damaged is the portrait of St. Clement of Ohrid, who holds a small model of the city of which he is the protector. Also recognizable are representations of St. Cosmo (patron saint of surgeons) and St. Damian (patron saint of pharmacists). Leaving the church and continuing up the same stairs, then turning left, you will quickly reach the church of Saints Constantine and Helen, then the church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos and the Gallery of Icons.

This cultural and tourist information center (Култура 365) was founded in 2011 by Ohrid photographer and publisher Mišo Juzmeski (1966-2021). It houses an exhibition center, the Doolaard Museum and a bookshop featuring books about the region in English and French, among others. The staff are on hand to advise on visits to the main monuments in and around the city. The center sometimes organizes guided tours in English and Dutch (ask for details). The team is also planning to open a full-fledged tourist office in Ohrid.

This early Christian basilica (Ранохристијанска Базилика Плаошник/Ranohristijanska Bazilika Plaošnik) is home to superb mosaics. It is the most important remnant of late antiquity unearthed on the hill of Plaošnik. The discovery was made as part of the large real estate project launched here in 2000. A large tubular structure houses the foundations of what was the seat of the bishopric of Lychnidos, probably founded in the^fifth century. The modern roofing is supposed to reproduce what the elaborate roof of this basilica with its tetraconical (four-leaf) plan looked like. Thanks to an elevated walkway that goes around the foundations, one can admire the mosaics on the floor with floral, animal, human and geometric motifs, including many "swastikas": swastikas were very common decorative elements in Greek, Roman and Byzantine decorations. The most remarkable piece is the baptistery decorated with a mosaic of peacocks drinking water from a sacred inexhaustible source. It is an illustration of the theme of baptism that purifies and nourishes the Christian throughout his life. The commissioners of all these works remain as anonymous as the artists who executed them. Only an inscription in Greek on the north side of the church evokes their memory: "This was done by those whose names are known to God Nearby are the ruins of a "pagan" temple and various buildings from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

This ^14th-century Orthodox church (Црква Свети Димитрија/Crkva Sveti Dimitrija) retains superb original paintings. In the first area, the large portraits of saints have disappeared, but on the south wall remains the face of St. Demetrios of Thessaloniki, a martyr of the ^fourth century. In the second zone, there is the cycle of the Passion: the entrance to Jerusalem and its little children is particularly joyful. There is also a beautiful wooden cross carved in the ^nineteenth century.

Surrounded by a pleasant garden, this Orthodox church (Црква Свети Константин и Елена/Crkva Sveti Konstantin i Elena) dates from the late ^14th century and was remodeled in 1477. It consists of a vaulted nave with a small transept, an apse and a side chapel placed to the south. The latter has lost its decoration except for a fragment of the fresco of the forty martyrs of Sebaste: a group of Roman legionaries converted to Christianity and died as martyrs on a frozen lake in present-day Turkey in the year 320. But the rest of the building retains its original frescoes (except in the northern part, due to humidity) and beautiful wooden doors with carved decoration. On the south wall, a large damaged fresco depicts St. Constantine, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, founder of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, and his mother, St. Helen, who was canonized for having, it is said, found the relic of the cross of Christ in the Holy Land. Note also a rich scene of the dormition of the Mother of God inspired by that of the church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos as well as the portrait of the donor, the hieromonk Parthenios. The latter is depicted with his family and holds the model of the church that he offered to Christ. Finally, St. Constantine and St. Helen are again depicted on the royal doors of the iconostasis (late ^14th century), which are now kept in the nearby Gallery of Icons.