Radozda

Radožda lies on the western shore of Lake Ohrid below a limestone cliff near the Albanian border, a fishing village of stone houses along the water known for its trout restaurants. Above it, cut into the rock face and reached by a stepped path, is the cave church of Archangel Michael, with frescoes of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries painted directly onto the rock. The village lies within the inscribed Ohrid region.

History

The village was founded more than ten centuries ago on fertile ground at the western edge of Lake Ohrid, about a kilometre west of where it stands now, and documents record it under changing names: Radobužda in the time of Tsar Stefan Dušan, Radohožda in an Ottoman register of 1583, and other forms in the notes of Branislav Nušić and on Austro-Hungarian maps. The church of the Archangel Michael was built in a natural cave in the Jablanica mountains above the village in the 13th century; it was repainted in the 14th, which covered most of the older frescoes, one of which survives from the 13th, and its top layer of painting was the last work of the 14th-century Ohrid school (Wikipedia, Radožda).

The main sights

• The cave church - Archangel Michael cut into the cliff with medieval frescoes.
• The rock frescoes - painting applied directly to the cave wall.
• The fishing village - stone houses and boats along the shore.
• The cliff - the limestone face rising directly behind the village.

When to go

May to September is the season. The church may be locked and a keyholder found in the village. Summer weekends fill the restaurants.

What to expect

The cave church is often locked and access needs finding someone in the village. The path up is steep. Lake trout on the menus is frequently farmed rather than the protected wild species.

Nearby

Struga is north, and the Albanian border is south.

Key facts