Radozhda
is a fishing village situated on the western shore of the Ohrid Lake
and is the last village before Albania on this side of the lake. It
is 10 km (6.2 mi) south of Struga. The village is situated at 725 m
(2,379 ft) above sea level. The
2002 census counted 808 people present in the village. Many of these
residents were elderly as much of the current generation have left
the village due to work and other reasons. The village is populated
by
Ethnic
Macedonians.
Radozhda
is about 10 centuries old, but written evidence can be found from
documents of the “Dushanovata Charter” from 1342 to 1345 under
the name Radobuzhda.
The village was established in mountain
meadows about a mile to the west. But the proximity of the lake as an
important source of food has forced villagers to move into the coast
line to form the new settlement.
If
you ask people from Radozhda about the name of their village, you
will hear many theories, but their favourite one is the one that the
name comes from the local dialect that means - birth. And not by
accident. If you “early bird”, on the opposite side where you see
Ohrid in the distance. In the early morning hours just over Galicica
the first sun rays begin to appear, and the lake receives a magical
golden-yellow colour that suggests a new day.
Radozhda
is renowned for the very best fish from the lake and the best fish
restaurants in the region and for its cave
church
high in the cliffs overlooking the village. The
church is dedicated to the commander of the heavenly powers,
Archangle Michael. Amongst the frescoes on the cave rocks is one of
the archangel at the Miracle of Chonae. Some of frescoes in this
church date back to the 13th
century.
The
church was painted again in the late 14th century,
Ohrid and surroundings popping numerous monuments,
accompanied by the flourishing of painting workshops.
There
is no doubt that the younger layer painting of St. Michael Archangel
Church of the cave is one of the last acts of the Ohrid School
painting of the 14th century. The little church is unique and
from locals you will learn that at the time of the first and Second
World War, the locals were hiding in the church and thus avoided the
bombings, which were often due to village closeness to the Albanian
border. The door to the cave is usually closed but the key is kept in
the restaurant Dva Biseri at the bottom of the steps.
Excluded
the Archangle Michael Cave Church, there are six
other churches in Radozhda located in the village or around the
village. Entering Radozhda from Struga the first church is St.Sunday,
inside and beside this church there are springs with fresh and cold
refreshing water in every season, this church was used for baptising
in the past. The other churches are St.Wednesday and Virgin Mary
church which are located above the village on the old location of the
village in the wood above Radozhda. There is also St. Ilija church on
the south end of Radozhda, then there are churches inside the
village, the St. Petka and St. Nicola. St. Nicola is the main
church built half in the ground because of the turkish regulations in
the past.
L
ess
well known is that sections of the legendary Roman road Via
Egnatia,
which ran from the Adriatic Sea, to the Black Sea and speaks about
the ancient life of this village.
The Via
Egnatia (Greek: Ἐγνατία
Ὁδός)
was constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It
crossed the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thrace,
running through territory that is now part of modern Albania,
the Republic of Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey.
Starting
at Dyrrachium (now Durrës)
on the Adriatic Sea, the road followed a difficult route along
the river Genusus (Shkumbin),
over the Candaviae mountains
and thence to the highlands around Lake Ohrid. It then turned
south, following several high mountain passes to reach the northern
coastline of the Aegean Sea at Thessalonica. From
there it ran through Thrace to the city of Byzantium (later
Constantinople, now Istanbul). It covered a total distance of
about 1,120 km (696 miles / 746 Roman miles). Like other major
Roman roads, it was about six metres (19.6 ft) wide, paved with
large polygonal stone slabs or covered with a hard layer of sand.
As
they are mostly built of blocks some 3m wide and perfectly jointed,
it is easy for the visitor to
appreciate what a feat of civil enginnering the Via Egnatia was.
Parts of the old Roman road Via Egnatia are thought to be located
just outside of Radozda. The road is located about 2 km outside of
the center of the After the restaurant Dva Biseri below the Cave
Church of Archangel Michael turn right and uphill at the first shop.
You will pass the Church of St Nikola at the cemetery and soon will
see a cobbled road. This should be the remains of the Via Egnatia. If
you walk a bit further uphill, you will find the small churches of St
Sreda and St Bogorodica. The exact lie of the road beyond this
section has still not been uncovered , but part of it is now believed
to be underwater below Sv Erasmus between Struga and Ohrid.
The interesting thing is that people in Radozhda and Vevchani use a
specific dialect. Because of the old and
rich tradition that this region has and because of the Vevchani
Carnival, many old words are present in everyday communication of the
people. The Vevčani-Radοža
dialect is the smallest dialect among the others dialects of the
Macedonian language.
The
dialect is spoken in the villages of Radozhda, Vevchani, Mali
Vlai in
the Republic of Macedonia and the village of Lin in
Albania. The dialect is close with the Struga, Korča,
and Ohrid dialects.
