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March 2007

Flag Macedonia Ohrid - Part 2: The lake, the fortress and the ancient ruins Flag Macedonia

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Sunset over Lake Ohrid, Macedonia
Sunset over Lake Ohrid, Macedonia.
This city is the most popular tourist spot in Macedonia, and people from all over the region spend their holidays here.
This was already the case during the Yugooslav years.

There is one frustration about independence: Macedonia has become quite isolated from its neighbours.
The shores of Lake Ohrid, Macedonia According to what a young man told me, the only neighbouring country they can enter without visa is Serbia (and Kosovo, but independence hadn’t been declared when I visited Macedonia).

He said that Albanian visas were very easy to obtain, but the biggest frustration was with Bulgaria, a country with whom the share a lot of links and history, but had recently joined the European Union.
Ohrid in Macedonia: a beautiful town between the monutains and the lake

All Macedonians I spoke to would like their country to be part of the European Union. Some even regretted the Yugoslavia era, when they were part of a bigger and stronger country.

Being a European country surrounded by two European Union members, I think Someday Macedonia will make it into the UE, but no schedule has been set yet...
Old ruins in Ohrid, Macedonia  
Structure covering the mosaics of the ancient basilica in Ohrid, Macedonia  
Mosaics of the ancient basilica in Ohrid, Macedonia

 
Ohrid, Madedonia  
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Metal Traveller at the Ancient Theater of Ohrid, Madedonia The Antique Theatre (Амфитеатар) was built in 200 B.C., when the settlement here was called Lychnidos.

It is the only Hellenistic Theatre found in Macedonia. There are other theatres in the country but they’re Roman times.

It was used by the Greeks to play Comedies and tragedies, but it is thought that during Roman times the theatre was hosted Gladiator fights.
Амфитеатар - Ancient Theater of Ohrid, Madedonia Some seats have a name inscription, which probably means that some people had reserved seats or subscriptions.

It was discovered in 1935.

The Hellenistic town of Lychnidos also comprised an agora, a gymnasium, a civic basilica and a few temples.
But they’re all underground nowadays and cannot be excavated without damaging the current town of Ohrid.
The Upper Gate of Ohrid's Fortress, Macedonia  
Ohrid's Fortress, Macedonia  
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