Lake Ohrid

Lake Ohrid straddles the mountainous border between southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, preserving a unique aquatic ecosystem that is of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species. The importance of the lake was further emphasized when it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The towns situated at the lakeside are Pogradec in Albania, along with Ohrid and Struga in Macedonia. Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake of the Balkans, with a maximum depth of 288 m.

Its astonishingly clean and clear waters, together with the serene stillness of its mountain settings have captivated visitors since prehistoric times.

Situated on the shores of Lake Ohrid, the town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe. Built mainly between the 7th and 19th centuries, it has the oldest Slav monastery (St Pantelejmon) and more than 800 Byzantine-style icons dating from the 11th to the end of the 14th century. Ohrid’s architecture represents the best preserved and most complete ensemble of ancient urban architecture of this part of Europe.

Lake Ohrid rightly deserves the name “Macedonia’s freshwater sea”. Not only for its warm water blue colour, which gains its intensity from the sky blue colour, but because of its size, this lake gives an impression of being a sea. It covers an area of 358 square kilometers and one gets an impression of being in front of a large bay of the sea as if a part had been uprooted of the sea’s breadth, and launched among high mountains 695 meters above sea level. On its northern shore the ancient city of Ohrid, rises above the lake like some colossal piece of scenery, located on a double hill with highest point at Samuel’s Fortress 800 m. above sea level.

The most famous springs are those at Studencista, better known as Biljana’s Springs, in the immediate vicinity of the city of Ohrid. There are powerful springs near the Monastery of St. Naum (29 km from Ohrid) which emerge from the limestone at the foot of Mount Galicica. Their water first forms a picturesque little lake in which in the course of the centuries two islets have been formed. The crystal clear water then flows in a small, fast - flowing river into Lake Ohrid.