Breathtaking Views Inside and Out of the Church of Saint Sophia

The resort city of Ohrid is one of the largest cities in the world, yet is home to a mere 42,000 residents. This North Macedonian tourist destination sits beautifully on the shores of one of the deepest and oldest lakes of Europe. You can’t get more picturesque than this.

This small lakeside city, often referred to as the Jerusalem of the Balkans, has a history filled with churches. It is said that the city once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year. The city and its lake are UNESCO heritage sites.

The Church of Saint Sophia today is not the original. The original was built on the grounds of a 5th century Roman church, but has since been rebuilt several times. 

The walls of Saint Sophia Church are covered with four centuries of Byzantine artwork. The oldest of these frescos tells the story of the separation of Christian churches into the east and west.   

The church walls also have an extraordinary 14th century depiction of the legend of Joseph from the Old Testament, one of the most valuable of its kind from the Middle Ages.