Things to see and do Struga

Perched at 1 300 m above sea level, 7 km southwest of Vevčani, Gorna Belica (Bella di Supra en aroumain) is a former alpine village of vlachs shepherds. Today uninhabited, it has become a resort for the inhabitants of Struga, who come here looking for freshness in summer. Gorna Belica has the church Saint-Clement of Ohrid (Свети Климент Охридски), the first church arriving in the village. It dates back to the ninth s. and would have been the residence of the saint before it finally settled on the shores of the lake. Higher, the church Sainte-Petka (Света Петка or Paraškjevija in aroumain) dates back to the beginning of the s. It is typical of the vlachs architecture with its iconostasis decorated with floral motifs and its carved wooden eagle. 

Founded in 1938, this national museum (Музеј Д-Р Никола Незлобински/Muzej D-R Nikola Nezlobinski) houses the natural science collection of Russian-Yugoslav physician Nikola Nezlobinski (1885-1942). Trained in St. Petersburg, Nezlobinski found refuge in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and from 1924 was responsible for combating malaria in Struga. His collection includes taxidermized specimens of numerous species from Lake Ohrid, the Prespa lakes and Mount Galičica: butterflies, birds of prey, fish, etc.

Renovated in 2021, this beautiful ^18th-century Ottoman-style house (Спомен Куќа на Браќата Миладинови/Spomen Kuḱa na Braḱata Miladinovi) was the birthplace of Dimitar Miladinov (1810-1862) and Konstantin Miladinov (1830-1862). Struga's two Bulgarian poets, who died of typhus in the same Ottoman prison in Constantinople, are presented here as "Macedonians". Yet they were the driving force behind the renaissance of Bulgarian literature, and the idea of a "Macedonian" identity did not emerge until decades after their death. Transformed into a museum, the house where they were born displays some of their works and personal effects, including a reproduction of the poem T'ga za Jug ("Nostalgia for the South"), composed in 1861 by Konstantin Miladinov. But much of their writing is still censored in North Macedonia, as it is considered probulgar. The house also houses the headquarters of the Struga Poetic Evenings Association (a festival held at the end of August), as well as some superb ^5th-6th century mosaics. These come from the floor of a large early-Christian basilica discovered in the village of Oktisi/Октиси, 10 km northwest of Struga, whose population is predominantly Turkish. Opposite the house is the Vangel-Kodžoman art gallery (Галерија Вангел Коџоман/Galerija Vangel Kodžoman). It houses thirty works by local painter Vangel Kodžoman (1904-1994). Visits by appointment with Miladinov House.