The syntagma Ohrid traditional architecture refers to the style of building family houses

admin ♦ August 9, 2010 ♦ Leave Your Comment

The syntagma Ohrid traditional architecture refers to the style of building family houses which was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries due to the fact that, during the Ottoman reign, the Christians were not allowed to build outside the town walls and the lack of the space inside the town walls.

The master builders of Ohrid traditional architecture, self-taught bricklayers from the region of Debar, created genuine and wonderful style of building characterized by the houses with upper flors more spacious than the ground floor. They managed to do that by using light wooden skeleton construction, called bondruk set on the stone built base of the ground floor. The upper floors of the houses, one or two of them, were whitewashed. The white walls are in strong contrast to the dark wooden window frames which is another element of so special and beautiful appearance of Ohrid houses.

The peak of the Ohrid traditional architecture certainly is Kukata na Robevci – the House of the Robev family. This elegant building is the work (and we may say the artwork) of master Todor Petkov from the village Gari, in Debar region, who lived between 1814 and 1899. Besides being beautiful and very high, this house is special for one more reason – it was brotherly house with two separate apartments, and it is very skilfully vertically divided into halves. Kukata na Robevci houses the National Museum which gives opportunity for the visitors to enjoy surprisingly cosy interior of this unique edifice.

Another beautiful example of the Ohrid traditional architecture is Kukata na Kanevcevci – the House of the Kanevce family. This house of modest size stands near the marvelous 11th century Church of Santa Sophia. It was built on the irregular basis with the frontal facade on the narrowest side. View of this narrow facade is often a subject of the paintings of local artists. For a good reason.

Kuka Uranija – the Uranija House is another well known building of the Ohrid traditional architecture. It stands very near the House of the Robev family. It houses the Ethnology Department of the National Museum.

There are many examples of Ohrid traditional architecture style of building within the town walls, including the newly built houses. The Ohrid traditional architecture has “important place in the cultural heritage” of the city.
* When the Turks came they settled on the flat land along the lake and that became the Muslim part of town and the part on the hills inside the walls was always the Christian part, with the bazaar as a meeting place. As the city grew and the Christians were not allowed to build outside the walls, Ohrid developed very specific architecture with tight narrow streets and tunnels (houses built over the streets). The houses had tiny yards usually enclosed in the ground floor, and the houses grew over the streets on the upper floors since the locations were small. The steep terrain enabled everybody to have a good view of the lake and because of the strong sun the houses were painted white, so they would reflect the sun. Because of the winds from the lake the houses in Ohrid don’t have the open spaces that traditional houses in other towns in Macedonia have. Interesting houses can be seen all over the old town but the best examples are along “Car Samoil” and “Ilindenska” streets. Robevci & Uranija houses are the two best examples of traditional architecture. They are houses of very rich families (normally the houses were not this big). Especially rich in terms of architecture is Uranija house, with entrances on different levels and inside galleries. They have been turned into museums today. If you don’t have time, visit just Uranija this one is free, even though the top level of Robevci has great views, nice wood carvings, and some furniture (100 denars entrance). The house next to St.Gerakomija church is one of the few traditional houses that has been nicely and carefully preserved. It has been turned into a hotel now; Kanevce House  On the right from the main facade of St. Sophia church, is the small house that belonged to Kanevce family. It has beautiful proportions and it is a good example of how they built on small locations.

* Icon Gallery – In the courtyard of St. Bogorodica Perivlepta church is the Ohrid icon collection with some of the best examples of the iconographic art in Macedonia. It is considered to be the second most important and valuable collection of icons in the world after the Moscow collection, so check it out if you have interest and time. 100 denars for entry.Error processing request