Treasures of the Deep

Looking back at thousands of years of history from the picturesque shores of Lake Ohrid, in North Macedonia.

-  By Naomi Tomky

The rain had soaked through my jacket and into my boots by the time my friend Rachel and I reached Sveti Jovan Kaneo, a 13th-century church in the North Macedonian town of Ohrid. Our husbands and children had stayed behind at the hotel, but we hustled a half mile through a late-spring storm toward the octagonal dome that sat atop a weathered brick building. After opening the gate, we came to a large wooden door, only to find it locked tight. As we turned to leave, defeated, Rachel noticed a priest arriving at the gate. He unlocked the door, we stepped in, and I immediately gasped. I've seen a lot of churches, but this one was well worth the journey.

Light filtered through skylights and cross-shaped cutouts on the walls, illuminating frescoes in the domed ceiling and gilded icons around the room. The priest pointed out Biblical stories depicted in the intricate art. Christianity is not my religion, but as the rays glinted off the gold, making the figures come alive, I understood how places like this created believers. When we asked if we could take pictures, the priest pointed to a sign forbidding photography. Then he shrugged, perhaps thinking better of it. “Memories are important,” he said.

His response felt sage in Ohrid, a town that carries so much history. It sits on the shore of Lake Ohrid, which straddles the border of North Macedonia and Albania. In 2023, scientists discovered an 8,000-year-old stilt village, believed to be the oldest of its kind in Europe, submerged near the water’s edge. The lake is almost 2 million years old and a UNESCO World Heritage site, in part because of its unique biodiversity.

The town of Ohrid, in North Macedonia, and its namesake lake; icons inside the Sveti Jovan Kaneo church.