Trpejca

Trpejca is a village of stone and whitewashed houses stepping down the slope to a small beach on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid, below the Galičica ridge, with fishing boats drawn up on the shingle and the island church of Sveti Zaum a short way along the coast. It has been called the Saint Tropez of Macedonia, which oversells it, but it is the prettiest of the lake villages. It lies within the inscribed Ohrid region.

Background

Trpejca belongs to the Ohrid municipality and had 320 residents at the 2021 census, up from 303 in 2002. Local accounts of its age differ, but the usual view is that people began settling here in the late 16th century. Fishing was the traditional living, and the village now depends heavily on visitors in the summer months. It has one school and two shops, and its church was built recently on the exact spot of an older one. The small Zaum monastery, about an 8-minute boat ride to the south, can only be reached by water, and villagers hold a feast there each July for the day of Zaum.

Source: Wikipedia, "Trpejca"

Highlights

• The stepped village - stone houses running down the slope to the water.
• The beach and boats - the shingle shore with fishing boats drawn up.
• The Galicica backdrop - the ridge rising directly behind the village.
• Sveti Zaum - the small lakeside church a short way along the shore.

When to go

May to September is the season. July and August fill the small beach completely. Winter is very quiet.

Before you go

The beach is small and gets packed in August. Parking in the village is very limited. Development along the shore has been contentious within the UNESCO area.

Nearby

Sveti Naum is south, and Ohrid is north.

Key facts