The storm that we watched from St Jovan Church yesterday hit Lake Ohrid in the middle of the night with a massive rain storm. Instead of the hot, sunny day we had yesterday, today we awoke to gray skies and temperatures about twenty degrees cooler. We had plans of taking a boat ride around the lake today, but with the chilly weather, we stayed in our cozy room drinking coffee and reading until late in the morning, when the rain stopped.
I'd been told to visit Lake Ohrid for its lake and natural beauty, but I hadn't realized just how much antiquity was here as well, stuffed into this small town. Most of these sites of antiquity are located on the hilltops of Ohrid, and hiking up huge hills sounded far more palatable today with the cooler weather.
We found Ohrid's amphitheater, built in 200 BC. It was used for gladiator fights and Roman executions of Christians, so the locals abandoned it under tons of dirt.
It wasn't until the 20th century that this theater was rediscovered, nearly intact. But with the European and Balkan wars of the 20th century, renovation still isn't complete. In fact, as we took photos of ourselves livin' large onstage, a group of local men were busily rebuilding the staircase next to the stage. It seemed to be a labor of love by the locals.
We climbed to Ohrid's highest point to see the imposing 10th century Tsar Samuel's Fortress. We managed to get to the top of the fully exposed hilltop just in time for a fresh storm of wind and rain to nearly knock us off the castle ramparts. But the views across Lake Ohrid to Albania on the western shore were stunning, even on a gloomy gray day.
Ohrid is famous for its many churches. Legend says that at one time, there were 365 churches here- one for each day of the year. I kind of doubt the veracity of that statement, but there are a ton of churches crammed into a fairly small town. We'd seen some of the most impressive yesterday, but today we visited some of the smaller Byzantine-style structures. We also started to notice how pervasive the churches are; some are just the size of tool sheds, and we hadn't even noticed them the first few times we walked by them.
In the late afternoon, the sunshine made its return. Suddenly cafes were filled with happy people drinking outside by the lake. I'm happy to report I was one of them. And after our coffees, we headed back to St Jovan's church in the hopes that the gorgeous afternoon light would make a great photo. I think it did.
We had eaten a very late (and massive) lunch of spit-roasted chickens and Greek salads, so for our final night in Ohrid, we mutually decided to skip dinner and have ice cream at 10pm instead. I hang my head in shame. Sort of.
2025-02-13