The town of Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in Europe and built on Lake Ohrid itself, which is estimated to be between 1-3 million years old. The lake is so deep, that they are still constantly pulling things out of it. It is basically the Mary Poppins bag of lakes. Just last year, it was reported they found remains from a WWII plane belonging to the British.

Ohrid, Macedonia has been referred to as the “Jerusalem of the Balkans’ and is also one of the only places in the world selected as both a a Natural and cultural UNESCO World Heritage site.

Basically what we took this to mean is that 1) we are going to see some really old stuff, and 2) It is going to be really good looking old stuff.

We were not disappointed. Here are some images to give you an idea of just how insanely beautiful this place is. Hopefully it will be a short vacation for your eyeballs today.

‘Ohrid City of UNESCO’ (proof I didn’t make it up)

Lake Ohrid in all her Glory. She stretches across both Macedonia and Albania (Albania is the hilly landscape in the background)

The town of Ohrid beneath Samuel’s Fortress.

The town creeps right up to the lake’s edge.

Al vs. the lake.

Saint Pantelejmon, built in the 5th century.

Across the lake, the town of Naum.

The Monastery of Saint Naum

This doesn’t even look real.

The ‘Bay of Bones’ is a museum on the water. It is an authentic reconstruction of a settlement here from 700 BC.

Happily staring at this lake all day.

We spent over an hour just driving around the lake, listening to music, staring at views like this. Heaven.

Now that your eyeballs are nice and relaxed, it is vacation time for your belly.