It is situated in the southwestern part of R. N. Macedonia, on two hills slightly connected and on a part of the surrounding field on the shores of Lake Ohrid, encircled by high mountains: Petrino and Galicica on the east and Mokra and Jablanica on the south and west. The lake has an elevation of 695 meters.
Historically speaking, Ohrid (its ancient name is Lihnidos) has been a “living city” for 2.400 years, incorporating the accomplishments of the powerful ancient civilization. As an episcopal center in Late Antiquity and later (from the Early Middle Ages onward) and also through the widely renowned Ohrid Archbishopric through the centuries, the city of Ohrid, also known as Balkan Jerusalem, represents the entire ecclesiastic history of Macedonia. In fact, the city is a miniature representation of the cultural history of R. N. Macedonia.
This city served as a principal formal seat of the first Macedonian-Slavic state, or the so- called Samuel’s Kingdom, through the work of St. Clement and the establishment of the first pan-Slavic university in Europe.
Ohrid today remains the cultural and spiritual center of R.N.Macedonia and lastly, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid are recognized as world cultural and natural treasures protected by UNESCO since 1980.
