st. naum, Ohrid

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Next to the Monastery of St Naum (close to the Albanian border at the south-east side of Lake Ohrid) there is a statue of St Naum (835-910).

Naum and Clement (840-916) were disciples of the brothers Kiril and Metodi, who were teachers of the Cyrillic and Glagolitic scripts.

Clement and Naum taught these scripts in the Monastery of St Clement in Ohrid, and later Naum set up another monastery at the other side of the lake, the Monastery of St Naum. Naum died in 910 and was buried in the church. They say that when you stand over his crypt and put your ear to the wall, you can still hear his heart beating.

The statue of St Naum is made from an old walnut tree that stood on this place by the sculptor Boris Dzeparoski with a CHAINSAW in just 15 hours. The statue has been holy since 19-01-2006 when it was baptized.

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From the harbour close to the centre of Ohrid, a boat leaves in the morning (around 10.00 h) for St Naum at the south-east site of the lake. In the afternoon (around 15.00 h) the boat returns to Ohrid. For the exact times, check the signs in the harbour. Especially with clear weather this trip is very enjoyable.

You have time to visit St Naum, and to stroll along the people offering -often religious- merchandice along the beach.

If you go by car to St Naum, you might be able to get somebody to take you to St Naum by boat from the parking place, for 100 Denar (less than 2 euro) per person. It is very nice to approach St Naum from the water, as it is located on the cliffs above the lake.

After visiting the monastery of St Naum, you can for instance do a boat trip to the springs or go to Lake Prespa, see my other tips.

If you have already seen enough after the devastating St Naum site, just enjoy the beach and the crystal clear water (that gets warmer the further you are from the springs).

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Take the bus to Sveti Naum, you won't forget this excursion!
Arriving to the site, there are vendors and eating places in the shadow, boat tours offered and some beach to bath.
The monastery is converted into a hotel/ restaurant, but still to be visited, having pave birds in the yard. One of it was white, but I saw it only a short time in 2005.
Walk on the border of the camping site, but stay on the path and don't go up the mountain, as there is the Albanian border. You will arrive to a place where eight spring holes give their water (coming down from Pelister mountain and Prespa lake) whith full energy, being the spring of Crni Drim river. This water is good for drinking. Go further and you will arrive to the small church of Sveti Atanas. From there you go towards the lake and to the left, there is the bus station. The last one will not leave until dark.

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The most remarkable thing about the monastery, perhaps, can be detected before even entering it. The peacocks luxuriating everywhere around it, cawing their unearthly, plaintive cries from the branches of trees, strutting on the rooftops, or reclining by rosebushes in the grass. Could they have been there since the beginning? Artwork inside other churches in Ohrid contains depictions of peacocks, among other animals, so it may just be possible.

The monastery has been renewed and enlarged several times over the centuries, and none of its original frescoes have been found. Most of the surviving ones date from the 16th and 17th centuries. The church itself is linguistically important for its preservation of early Cyrillic and Glagolitic inscriptions dating from the 10th-12th centuries. These inscriptions are some of the oldest epigraphic evidence of Slavic literacy.

Exceptional legends grew up around the monk and his monastery. St. Naum, the faithful believed, could heal the mentally disturbed. Some believe the monastery even had a sort of working hospital in and around 1662. The many miracles associated with St. Naum were immortalized in frescoes painted in 1806 by Trpo, an artist from Korcha, Albania. The article discusses some of these frescoes, which were given evocative (and humorous) names such “Harnessing the Bear,” “The Stupefied Monk Who Tried to Steal the Body of Saint Naum From His Tomb,” “Healing of the Mentally Disturbed,” “Horse Thief Who Was Caught at the Gates of the Monastery Church at Dawn” and “The Bucket Leaves Traces in the Rock.”

Nowadays, visitors to the monastery keep alive a fervent belief in Naum’s healing power, and the throbbing of his heartbeat. there’s no better logical explanation for it, can be heard by pressing one’s ear to the saint’s coffin, located inside the church. It’s just another magical aspect of a truly sublime and ethereal destination, one of the best Macedonia has to offer.

In your hurry to go in and see the beautiful monastary of Sv Naum, be sure to take the time to look up at the beautiful mosaic over the door to the monastary. I saw many people go right through this door and never look up.

When at the monastary of St Naum, take a look inside the monastary St Archangel to take in the frescoes. Particularly interesting are those depicting the life and miracles of St Naum himself which are painted in the area of the chapel containing his tomb.

Make the effort to get here from Ohrid, about 30 minutes by car. This beautiful monastary was begun in the 10th century as the the monastary St Archangel and St Naum was buried here upon his death. The views of the lake with the monastary from here are beautiful and well worth the trip. Entrance to the small monastary chapel is 100 denar. Also on the grounds are a statue of St Naum made of one piece of wood, a hotel and the springs are near by.

The position of the monastery on a high cliff above the lake offers a stunning views of the lake and its surroundings.
The Springs of Black Drim are near the monastery of St. Naum. Forty-five springs make a huge, lake like spring, which flows into Lake Ohrid here, and out at Struga, 30 km across the lake