MACEDONIA: LAKE OHRID

As a reminder of our itinerary, we spent a day in Skopje, Macedonia, and then we took a little detour to Prizren, Kosovo. (See prior posts.) After spending another night in Skopje, we headed southwest for the incredibly lovely three-million-year-old Lake Ohrid (pronounced AWK-rid by locals), located on the border of Macedonia and Albania.

Our drive from Skopje to Ohrid, about 125 miles, was beautiful, full of sights like this family working what is either a very small farm or a very large garden. We saw scenes like this quite a few times as we drove around the Balkans. (Excuse the poor quality of the photo--I took it from the car window as we sped past.)

There were also a lot of campaign billboards. This guy seemed to be the front-runner, at least if the number of billboards was an indicator.  However, apparently at least one person didn't like him:

Lake Ohrid is about 20 miles long and almost 1,000 feet deep, one of the deepest lakes in Europe.

The town that lounges on its banks is full of Byzantine churches, a castle on the hill, and a wonderful old town shopping district (which, alas, we spent only 30 minutes exploring).

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA, Part 3

Skopje, like so many other large cities in the Balkans, has a large fortress that dominates the high point of the city. The first iteration was built during the 6th century, and later versions were built during the 10th and 11th centuries. It was partially destroyed by the 1963 earthquake and only recently restored, which accounts for the pristine appearance of the crenelations at the top of the wall.

We walked up to it from Macedonia Square in the evening, but it was closed. Too many attractions in Macedonia are not keeping Tourist Hours, something that needs to change as tourism increases. We did enjoy a walk around about half of the perimeter.

The Millennium Cross in the background.

MACEDONIA, Taxi Excursion Out of Skopje

Some young Germans staying at the same hotel as we were in Skopje suggested that we abandon the Vegas-like city center for a drive up the canyon to Lake Matka.  Bob also wanted to visit the St. Panteleimon Church, which overlooks the city from the top of Mount Vodno, so we figured we could combine the two excursions. However, our time was limited, and without a working GPS we were worried about getting everywhere we needed to go in a timely fashion. To be as efficient as possible, we decided to hire a cab for the morning. We covered quite a bit of ground over about a four-hour period and paid the driver $40. All things considered, it was a good investment.

We started by driving up the twisting, gut-sloshing road to St. Panteleimon Church, only to find that the church was closed until afternoon. One drive up that road could have been enough for me, but Bob decided we would return after making our trip to Lake Matka. (Ironically, St. Panteleimon is the Protector of Health.)

Supposedly, Lake Matka, a 30-minute drive from Skopje, is one of the most popular outdoor destinations in Macedonia, but it was a ghost town (ghost natural wonder?) when we arrived on Tuesday, May 28th.

The dam on the Treska River at the front of the Matka Canyon . . .

 . . . forms a beautiful turquoise-colored lake bordered on both sides by towering cliffs. Note the low water line.

"Matka" is the Macedonian word for "womb." The still, enclosed water, humid air, and fecund hillsides do create a womb-like atmosphere.

SKOPJE, MACEDONIA

I grew up thinking of Macedonia as a region of the ancient world that was almost synonymous with Greece, and most of my exposure to it came through the many times it is mentioned in the New Testament. (See, for example, Acts 16:12, I Corinthians 16:5, 1 Thessalonians 1:8.)

To be completely honest--and I am really embarrassed to admit this--until we planned this trip I did not know that since it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, there has been a country named Macedonia in the Balkans. In my defense, it's a pretty small country--about the size of Vermont. Also, there is some controversy over the name "Macedonia." Greece is ticked off about the use of that name as Greece still has a region named Macedonia, which includes part of the ancient Macedonia. See the green area below:

Many Greeks identify themselves as Macedonians and feel no connection to the Slavic people who are the residents of the country of Macedonia.