Bike video tour of Ohrid

Tour of Ohrid city and Lake Ohrid on bike.

Everything Except The Trout at Ohrid

Macedonia’s Lake Ohrid is famous for its trout.  In the chilly, mountain depths of these waters, theohridska pastrmka (pastrmka means trout) has swum since time immemorial, and has been fished here since Neolithic times. It’s one of the only European fish to have existed since before the last ice age, and the species is probably some million years old.  Reportedly, it’s delicious.  The problem is, it’s almost extinct.  That doesn’t stop restaurants here from serving it.  Neither do the police, though it’s officially illegal to fish for it or sell it.

This is the “Macedonian Riviera,” and the eating here in Ohrid town has been almost uniformly excellent, with lots of cheap, pleasant restaurants dotting the waterfront and the side streets. We’ve been avoiding ohridska, but eating just about every other watery fauna we can get our forks into.  Here’s a look at what’s on offer in Ohrid that’s not endangered.


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Record 170-meter wooden sculpture of an eel placed on Macedonia's Ohrid lake

A 170-meter- (186-yard-) long wooden sculpture of an eel has been secured with anchors in Macedonia's Ohrid Lake in an effort to win the Guinness record for longest wooden sculpture ever placed in water.

The installation was created by sculptor Sergei Cingulovski, who joined 50 wooden panels together. The sculpture, made of Canadian poplar, weighs 2.5 tons.

The sculptor said Sunday that he worked nine months on the sculpture.

The sculpture will be officially measured Monday, Cingulovski said. The official unveiling will take place Monday, at the opening of the 50th Ohrid Summer Festival, Macedonia's premier cultural event.

50th Ohrid Summer Festival opens

Opening ceremony of the 50th Ohrid Summer Festival will be held Monday evening in the Antique Theatre with a concert of Russian National Orchestra and Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski conducted by Mikhail Pletnev.

The concert as maestro Pletnev announced will include pieces by the great Russian composers - Fourth Symphony of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and great concert of Sergei Rachmaninoff.

- Simon Trpceski is part of the new generation of artists who will represent the classical art with dignity in the future. Today there is a lack of great artists, but I hope that coming generations will raise the level of classical music, the conductor Pletnev said.

Pletnev said he was amazed by the beauties of Ohrid, its cultural heritage and history.

Jubilee festival’s edition will offer numerous performances of domestic and foreign artists, ensembles, soloists, chamber structures, theatre and ballet plays.

Up to August 20, visitors will see 25 concerts, 13 theatre plays, one ballet performance and one opera gala-concert.

The music section is comprised of tours by world-renowned names, such as violinist Julian Rachlin, pianists Peter Laul, Nikolai Lugansky, Ramzi Yassa and Denis Matsuev, as well as numerous artists from Switzerland, Serbia, Russia, Austria, Albania, Slovenia, Germany, Egypt, Hungary and Czech Republic.

Domestic musicians will hold eight concerts, including the Macedonian Philharmonic, Youth Chamber Orchestra, Macedonian Opera and Ballet etc.

The dramatic part includes eight Macedonian theatre performances and five tours.

Chinese tour operators, journalists visit Ohrid

Representatives of 15 Chinese tourist agencies and six media paid a visit Thursday to Ohrid within their tour across Macedonia.


Macedonia and Ohrid may attract Chinese tourists, so it is possible for the country's tourist destinations to be offered on China's market, the guests said.


- We are impressed by Macedonia's beauty, rich cultural heritage. We hope for new bridges of friendship, tourist cooperation to be opened in the future, said Christopher Millward, CEO of Beijing consulting firm Firebrands.


After returning to China, media representatives will present their impressions from the visit to Macedonia, while tourist agencies, depending on their plans, may include the country in their offers.


- The warm hospitality, rich cultural heritage and natural beauties will certainly attract many Chinese, Millward said, expressing hope for the results of this visit to be tangible in the near future.


China's citizens have shown interest in this part of the Balkans, in particular the older ones who long for new destinations, said the sales manager of 'Turkish Airways' in China.


This evening, the guests from China will meet their Balkan colleagues to discuss possibilities for cooperation in bringing more Chinese tourists to the region.

Macedonia Charges Captain, Inspector over Ohrid Lake Tragedy

Macedonian prosecutors have charged suspects over the sinking of the Ilinden boat in the Ohrid Lake, which killed 15 Bulgarian tourists in September 2009.


The Prosecutor’s Office in the town of Ohrid has charged the captain of the antiquated tourist boat, Sotir Filevski, and Branko Baic, representative of the Croation company Lloyd, who inspected the vessel and issued a technical permit for its operation.


In addition to the expected charges against the boat captain Filevski, the Ohrid prosecutors have decided to charge the respective safety inspector after reviewing volumes with documentation and carrying out several technical experiments.


Filevski and Baic have been charged with “severe crimes against safety of persons and transport equipment.”


Baic, who is a Croatian citizen, is going to be notified about the charges against him through the justice ministries of Macedonia and Croatia.


A total of 15 Bulgarian tourists drowned and 40 more were injured as the Ilinden boat sunk in the Ohrid Lake in September 2009. The Bulgarians, mostly retirees, were on an excursion in Macedonia whose organizers were later revealed to have violated a number of legal procedures in Bulgaria.


The news about the charges of those suspected responsible for the Ohrid Lake tragedy comes hours after the Bulgarian Diaspora Minister Bozhidar Dimitrov announced the three local Ohrid men who rescued a number of Bulgarian tourists from drowning were granted Bulgarian citizenship.

Macedonia Takes Steps to Protect Two Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Sites

With its latest decision, the Macedonian government created a legal framework for the protection, conservation and prohibition of the destruction of two of its cultural heritage sites – the megalithic observatory in Kokino and the Ohrid Region.

The archaeological and astronomic site of Kokino, located in north-eastern Macedonia, has been declared as a cultural heritage site of exceptional importance, the Vecher newspaper reported today.

“In order to ensure additional international value of the Kokino site, which was listed among the oldest pre-historical observatories in the world by NASA a few years ago, the government has issued a decision aimed at providing this monumental entity an internationally recognised status, or trying to enlist it in the world heritage of the prestigious organisation,” Culture Minister Elizabeta Kancheska – Milevska told the publication.

In this way, Kancheska – Milevska said, data on this site identified as a Bronze Age rite area and an observatory, so far the only in the Balkans and a rarity in Europe, will be protected permanently. At the same time, destruction of the site will be prevented.

In addition to the Kokino site, the Macedonian government took steps towards the protection of the Ohrid region, by preparing a final version of the Plan for management of natural and cultural heritage, which has been submitted to the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

“The goal of such a plan is to prevent the violation or non-implementation of UNESCO provisions on protection of cultural heritage. In parallel, we have worked on a law on management of the world natural and cultural heritage of the Ohrid Region, which has already been submitted to the government for adoption,” the Culture Minister says.

TAV started with takeover of airports

Turkish company TAV began the takeover process of Macedonian airports. Representatives of TAV will start offering work contracts to 790 employees of Skopje and Ohrid airports. However, they still do not want to disclose what they are really offering in these contracts.

The new concessionaire is obliged only not to lay off workers for at least next seven years or decrease salaries to any of the employees.

This administrative procedure is expected to be completed by the end of February, when the official takeover of the airports in Skopje and Ohrid has been announced. The renovation and modernization of airport premises and runways modelled after European ones will start at the same time.

Ohrid mayor kidnapped, told police a month later

The police arrested two persons suspected of having kidnapped the Mayor of Ohrid and his driver, who reported the incident a month after it had happened, the Interior Ministry announced Thursday.
According to the same source, neither the Mayor nor the driver explained how come they reported the incident with one-month delay.

The two suspects were taken in late Wednesday, pending questioning aimed at establishing the reasons for the "kidnapping". As to the possible motives, the police's assumptions reportedly range from extortion to unpaid debts.

According to the official report sheet, the kidnapping took place after one of the suspects had demanded from the mayor to pay him 15,000 euros.

Although the suspects refuse to give any testimony relating the case, the police said they had information that the two victims paid a portion of the demanded money to their kidnappers. However, this assumption raises another question, namely, how come the mayor never reported the case to the police and what his connection is to the kidnappers

Ohrid Lake, Pelister Eyes and Vrelo caves, world wonders candidates

Ohrid Lake, lakes at mountain Pelister called "Pelister Eyes", and caves "Vrelo" at Matka are the three natural beauties that citizens have selected to represent Macedonia at the global campaign on the new seven wonders of nature. These three natural beauties will be proposed by the Macedonian supporting committee, which is supported by the Ministry of Economy.

People can already vote for the Ohrid Lake at the new seven wonders website, whereas Pelister Eyes and Vrelo caves will soon be put on the list. Voting will last until December 31, with the top 77 entering the next selection round.

Experts look back at Ohrid Accord

The Ohrid Framework Agreement, which came into force in 2001, brought peace, better co-operation among ethnic communities and more minority rights to Macedonia. Many experts believe that it is one of the most successful agreements in the region for forging a functional, multinational state.

Representatives of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party never attended previous observances of the pact's anniversary organised by the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), an Albanian-minority party emerging from the National Liberation Army (NLA).

This year, though, the VMRO-DPMNE-led government held a ceremony on August 13th honouring the anniversary. Observers viewed this as progress resulting from the coalition between the VMRO-DPMNE and the DUI, something that was impossible until recently.

Statistics show great change since 2001. The percentage of civil servants belonging to ethnic minorities soared from 4% to almost 17%, though minority representation in government still lags compared to that in the general population. Ethnic Albanians alone account for 23% of the population, according to the 2002 census.

Change is visible everywhere. The Albanian flag flies legally outside multiethnic municipalities. In towns where minorities comprise 20% or more of the population, signs guiding traffic and identifying buildings are bilingual or trilingual.

However, experts consider the agreement's most important feat to be the prevention of a civil war. Even today, there are different names for what happened in Macedonia in 2001 -- a rebellion, a conflict or a limited-scale internal conflict.

Hailing the pact for bringing peace, James Pardew, a US mediator in Macedonia during the summer of 2001, told Skopje's Kanal 5 TV channel, "Had [the fighting] broken out into a full-scale war, it would have destroyed Macedonia as a country."

Others point to lingering political problems. One of the participants in the 2001 peace talks, law professor Ljubomir Frckovski at Skopje's University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, says Skopje has yet to resolve the issue of the use of Albanian. Policymakers have decided to enact a law on use of the language, although the accord does not explicitly endorse that route.

Vlado Popovski, another law professor, said the agreement, while achieving many things, has yet to help internally displaced people. Those provisions remain unimplemented because of the potential for continued unrest in the Skopje-area village of Aracinovo and the Lipkovo region.

According to the government, there are 771 displaced ethnic Macedonians from villages in western Macedonia. They appealed to Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski because they did not feel safe in returning to their former homes even after seven years.

Reconstruction of Uranija House to begin in September

Reconstruction of Ohrid's Uranija House, where the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) was established, will begin in September. MANU president, academician Georgi Stardelov said Sunday after meeting with Vice Premier Ivica Bocevski that the Government has allocated the reconstruction funds.

"This 19th-century cult building is to be put into function as of next summer, with the main task of scientific research of Macedonia's medieval period, i.e. the Ohrid literary center, where the first Slavic letter was created", said academician Stardelov.

According to him, MANU's intention is to turn Uranija House into the head office of the association of Balkan academies of sciences and arts, where institutions would focus on the region's crucial issues, along with ways towards Balkan's European integration.

Vice Premier Bocevski stressed that the Government intensively resumes with activities on enhancement of cooperation with MANU.

"The Secretariat for European Affairs will intensify MANU-related projects in several areas. Cooperation with the MANU Center for Geo-Strategic Research will focus on series of projects related to Macedonia's Euro-integration, i.e. interpretative dictionaries in Macedonian language, then in the sphere of politological, law and economic sciences", stated Bocevski.

Moreover, the Vice Premier emphasized that the cooperation with MANU on harmonization of the national legislation with the EU Acquis would intensify, whereas the Government would continue to support all projects for equipping the Academy and its centers.

The Uranija House is a building that has endured a number of interventions since 1953, but to no avail. The conservation project envisages toppling of the building to the stone walls, whereas upper parts will be entirely reconstructed in line with the authentic image.

Archeological site discovered in Ohrid

A valuable archeological site was found in the old area of Ohrid, near the St. Sofia church, during building of a house in this part of the town.

According to the director of the Cultural Heritage Protection Paskal Kuzman, it is an early Christian basilica from 4 or 5 century with a well-preserved mosaic. He added that the basilica most probably is a part of an Episcopal court that the archeologists expected to find at the Plaoshnik site.

The experts of the Cultural Heritage Protection institution and the Museum performed research and the construction works were halted, and, as announced by the institution, the site of the finding will be expropriated.

According to Kuzman, Ohrid's old part, and especially the locality known as Mancevci, hides enormous cultural and historical heritage that is yet to be discovered.

Albanian citizens buy food in Macedonia's green markets

Food price hikes in Albania forced its citizens to buy food products in green markets and grocery stores in neigboting Macedonia.

Albanian media said the locals in border villages in Albania travel to Macedonia's border towns of Struga, Ohrid and Debar to buy food.

The frequency of travellers at Blato border crossing, near Debar, was tripled in the past four days. Albanian citizens claim food price in Debar are lower 10-25 percent comparing with the prices in Albania.

The number of Albanian citizens purchasing food products in Macedonia is expected to surge after the upcoming lifting of visa requirements by both countries. The citizens will travel to each of the two countries on visa-free basis.

The Macedonian Town of Ohrid, Where Time Stopped

When asked about Ohrid, people from other parts of Macedonia tell the following story. After God created the world and lay down to rest, the Devil got to work and set up Ohrid with all its beauties: the splendid lake, the steep mountains where the Galičica National Park is now located, a moderate climate and a fertile soil. God woke up and looked around in astonishment. “What have you done, Devil?” he asked. “Your deeds are supposed to be evil!” “Oh, just wait, God!,” Satan replied. “You haven't seen Ohrid's citizens yet.”

The only fault that foreign tourists will find with Ohrid's citizens, however, is their proclivity for inflating prices. Yet a dinner of the famous Ohrid trout with generous amounts of zholta, or yellow, rakiya in a restaurant in the old city amidst the dozens of Revival Period houses and medieval churches is not so costly. Landmarks cause prices to rise all over the world. In this case, they include Robevci, or the Robevs' House, and the St Sophia and the Sveta Bogorodica Perivleptos, or St Mother of God the Most Glorious, Churches with their magnificent 11th-14th Century murals.

Situated on the northeastern shore of Lake Ohrid, this is the best-known town in the republic – despite the fact that the CIA has failed to include it on its website map of the former Yugoslav republic. About 50,000 people live there and they are all convinced that Ohrid is the best developed, the richest and the most European town in the country.

Ohrid is said to have 365 churches, one for each day of the year. In reality, they are fewer, but the number is certainly large – a remnant from the time when the place was the residence of the Ohrid archbishops. Theoretically, they were under the authority of the ecumenical patriarch in Constantinople. In fact, however, they acted in such an independent way that in 1676 the Ottoman sultan abolished the archbishopric at the patriarch's request.

Earlier, something far more interesting had happened in Ohrid and because of it you now have problems reading any road sign written in Cyrillic. What appears to you to be the enigmatic alphabet of Macedonia, Bulgaria and Russia was invented here by St Clement of Ohrid. He was one of the students of Cyril and Methodius, the brothers who created the first Slavonic alphabet, the Glagolitic.

Clement, who established an educational institution and a literary school near Ohrid at the invitation of Bulgarian Prince Boris I, soon realised that the complex symbols of the Glagolitic were too hard to learn. So, he changed most of the letters for Greek ones and called the new alphabet the “Cyrillic”. Fifty years later, it established itself as the main writing system and the Monastery of St Clement at Plaošnik – up the hill from St John-at-Kaneo Church and under Samuel's Fortress – is now a major tourist attraction in Ohrid. Its church has been recently restored and the remains of the monastery are undergoing archaeological excavations.

Outside the town, on the south bank of the lake and nearly at the Albanian border, lies a more well-preserved monastery. St Naum boasts a miniature church with medieval frescos and a well maintained yard, which is the favourite walking area for tourists and peacocks.

Ohrid is home to more than just “church tourism” and there are well over a dozen places where your eyes can rest from the views of domes and medieval red bricks or white stone walls. The easiest thing is to intentionally get lost in the maze of narrow lanes between the city centre and the hill with Samuel's Fortress. While in Ohrid's old part everybody is desperately trying to conserve the Revival Period and medieval past because of the tourists, here a different type of past has managed to survive without any particular effort.

You'll see more children riding bicycles in the streets than adults driving 1960s cars. The air carries the scent of freshly hung washing and the meals that housewives are cooking for supper. Each empty piece of land is occupied by parked Zastavas, the triumph of Communist Yugoslavia's industry. Judging from the flat tyres and tatty seats, these cars will leave their place among the weeds to set off on one last journey – to the scrap yard.

Ohrid's citizens are down-to-earth people and have retained their Communist-era hotels, just like they keep their Zastavas. Most of these establishments have simply had their curtains and names replaced by “more prestigious” ones and are still functioning. The “prestige” that the Palace, Slavia, Park, Metropol, Bellevue, Granite and the “Zastava” Hotel-Sveti Stefan (sic) exude, however, is redolent of Communism.

Locals say everything in Ohrid is as it used to be a century ago, and changes happen very slowly. As if to show this, a 800-year-old plane tree stands in the middle of the cobbled square by the old market and the Ali Pasha Mosque. The only difference between now and 100 years ago is that the hollow in its huge trunk is no longer used as a barber's shop or a café; now, it is filled with cement.

This article is courtesy of the Bulgarian magazine Vagabond.

10,000 tourists left Ohrid

Ohrid. The rains and sharp lowering of temperatures has reduced the number of tourists at the Ohrid Lake. Out of the record-breaking 30,000 people their number is now by 10,000 fewer, Macedonian Utrinski Vesnik writes. Mostly tourists at camping sites and private lodgings have left the area, whereas their number at hotels has reduced by some 20%.