Plaošnik

Ohrid


Saluting the lake from Ohrid's hilltop, Plaošnik is home to the multidomed medieval Church of Sveti Kliment i Pantelejmon, the foundations of a 5th-century basilica and a garden of intricate early Christian flora-and-fauna mosaics. The central church was restored in 2002; though it lacks the ancient wall frescoes of many other Macedonian churches, it is unusual in having glass floor segments revealing the original foundations and framed relics from the medieval church, which dated to the 9th century.

Surrounding the church, a series of columns and covered mosaics are discoveries from an even earlier religious complex. The most impressive basilica ruins, complete with elaborate mosaic floors, lie beneath a covered walkway opposite the Church of Sveti Kliment i Pantelejmon and set back from the hill edge (to the right of the site entrance). There's a small cafe with a sweet sea-view patio on-site.

Plaošnik's once-woody environs are now a construction site for a ginormous School of Theology.