A Mask-Maker in Ohrid, North Macedonia

In Ohrid, North Macedonia, the Marinov family has been fashioning utilitarian and decorative objects out of copper and brass for one hundred years. Shawn and I happened upon the third and fourth-generation artists’ small studio one afternoon, while exploring Ohrid’s UNESCO-registered Old Town, which is replete with hundreds of Eastern Orthodox churches. The Marinov shopContinue reading “A Mask-Maker in Ohrid, North Macedonia”

Orthodox Easter Celebrations in Ohrid, North Macedonia

This spring, we’ve had the fortune of observing Easter celebrations not once, but twice. In Croatia, where Catholicism predominates, we celebrated Easter in late March. This past weekend, we also got to participate in Orthodox Easter festivities in North Macedonia. Given its spiritual ties and the fact that it once had more than 365 churches,Continue reading “Orthodox Easter Celebrations in Ohrid, North Macedonia”

Photo du Jour: St. John Orthodox Church at Sunset – Ohrid, North Macedonia

A boat glides across the golden, shimmering surface of Lake Ohrid on the eve of Orthodox Easter. A silhouetted version of Saint John at Kaneo stands guard in the background. Archaeologists think that the church was built before the rise of the Ottoman Empire, perhaps in the 13th century. Frescoes adorn Saint John’s dome; they were discovered in the 1960s.