Shopping in Ohrid
Shopping Ohrid is an enjoyable experience and you can pick up items to keep as souvenirs to remind you of the wonderful time you spent there. You can choose from filigree jewellery, copper based items, traditional Macedonian musical instruments and CDs playing traditional Macedonian music, and also woodcarvings. These are unique items which will remind you only of Ohrid.
If you happen to be in Ohrid on a Saturday, go to Struga as it holds a large weekly market on this day.
Use this Ohrid Shopping Guide to gain some local insight into interesting shops and markets to browse around in whilst on your Ohrid holiday. And don't forget to treat your tastebuds as well, in some of the fantastic Ohrid Restaurants.
Ohrid Shopping Guide
Ohrid's bazaar starts with a food market which was earlier the animal market. This is followed by the Krusevska Republika Square, which has a fountain and a 1000 year old plane tree called Cinar.
You can spend time in the shopping area of Ohrid and shop for items such as ceramics, pretty embroidery, handmade carpets, tapestries, leather boxes, and some fine wine. Ohrid also has art pieces, woolens, clothes and food items which are worth buying. While Ohrid is the right place for genuine and beautiful craft items, you can shop for general items and other bazaar goods at Skopje.
All over Ohrid there are several ATMs, and banks are situated around Ulica Sveti Kliment Ohridski and Bulevar Makedonski Prosvetiteli.
Reports written by Evliya Celebi, the seventeenth Turkish travel writer, tell us that the commercial quarter occupied a major part of the lower town. In this region, you can find all the craft workshops, some 150 shops, three caravans, hostels and also three free lodging houses. Usually the inns were situated in the hilly part of the town where the Christian population resided.
Many of the shops in Ohrid are made in the dressed stone architectural style, which is the typical Oriental - Macedonian style of architecture. These were built mainly during the nineteenth century. Some of them have survived and can be traced to be owned by Macedonian traders whose names can be found on the upper part of the building's façade. The year and sometimes the month of the construction of the shop can be found, in addition, to the trader's name.
Ohrid Pearls
A unique item you can take back home from Ohrid is its famous pearls. The Ohrid pearl is a unique piece of jewellery. Its brightness and beauty has made the city of Ohrid famous far and wide. You may need to be cautious about their genuineness as many of the pearls which are sold are only mother of pearl. Visitors counsel that the best pearl and filigree jewellery can be found in the main shopping street, in the area where the lake is at the back. There are small Pearl shops in Ohrid found on the left side of the street.
At the old bazaar, you may get to hear many stories about the creation of the pearl. There are only a couple of families who are experts at this tradition. Amongst them the Talevi and Filey families are considered as guardians of this tradition of manufacturing pearl jewellery.
The families are extremely secretive about the method of manufacture. What is known is that the scales of the fish Plasica is used for creating this pearl and that the methodology is known only to the male descendants. The jewellery is hand made and involves many stages in its making. Visitors can take home a variety of jewellery which includes necklaces, earrings, and brooches.
Shopping Hours
Monday-Saturday: 8am - 9pm
Sunday: during the season most of the shops stay open
Currency Information
Macedonian Denar (MKD) = 100 Deni
Notes are found in denominations of MKD5, 000, 1,000, 500, 100, 50 and 10
Coins are available in denominations of MKD 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1, and 50 Deni
We offer a great selection of Cheap Hotels in Ohrid as well as Hostels in Ohrid. Just visit our Ohrid Hotels guide or Apartments in Ohrid selection.
Shopping Places
Wood Carving Atelier Barok
Wood carving has had a long tradition in Ohrid and Macedonia going back to the 14th century. Mr. Koco Ainoski has continued with this tradition by creating his own recognizable style, and is a master in deep wood carving. His master pieces, all of them handmade, can be found in his own atelier which is located at the entrance of the old part of the city. For a reasonable price one can purchase a piece of the masters handicrafts which will last forever.
Car Samoil 24
00389 46 263 151
barokohrid@gmail.com
Dzeki
Mr. Dzengis Sulejman, the owner of this shop, has been in this business for over 30 years and is successfully running the family business. An extensive variety of high quality silver jewelry, watches and sun glasses can be purchased in the shop. The shop is located in the heart of the main shopping street in Ohrid and can be easily found.
St. Kliment Ohridski 75
00389 70 232 031 (cell.)
Ohrid Pearl Antica
Mihajlo Filev is the youngest member of the renowned pearl making family of Filevi and is a successful succeeder of this unique business. The Filevi family has been in the pearl business for over 80 years and is one of the only two families in Ohrid which keeps the secret of producing pearls from the scales of the fish called Plasica, endemic to Lake Ohrid.
The pearl items which can be purchased for a reasonably fair price will remind the visitors of Ohrid for the rest of their lifes. The shop is located in the old part of the city, very close to the city centre and is easily found. Most of the locals know the shop as the "Filevi pearls", although the present name of the shop is "Antica".
Klimentov Univerzitet
00389 70 590 822 (cell.)
mihajlo_filev@yahoo.com
Wood Carving Atelier Tron
Because of the difficulty, not many youngsters have decided to continue with the wood carving tradition, but the love of Dragan to create unique master pieces overwhelms the material side of life. The shop is part of the complex of the church St. Nikola Gerakomija which, again, is located next to the famous church of St. Sophia in the heart of the old part of the city.
Car Samoil bb
00389 75 362 581 (cell.)
Jewelry Shop Tigrovo Oko
Abedin Abdurahman and his shop are well known in Ohrid as a place where one can find unique pieces of silver jewelry combined with semi-precious gems, locally made but also imported from all over the world as well as Ohrid's pearls that are sold in the shop. The shop is conveniently located in the main shopping street of Ohrid and the prices are more than reasonable.
St. Kliment Ohridski 103
00389 46 262 319
tigrovo_oko_ohrid@yahoo.com
Art Gallery Bukefal
Ohrid- the town on the shore of a crystal clean lake. Ancient and contemporary at the same time; spiritual, cultural, educational and an artistic centre with a millennia long, continual development. Macedonia's monasteries and churches hold works created by some of the greatest masters of medieval fresco and icon painting, and this artistic tradition has continued through the work of many painters, graphic artists and sculptors. You can find impressive icons and oil paintings in art gallery Bukefal owned by Ljupco Zupan.St.Kliment Ohridski 54
00389 46 264 052
info@bukefal.com.mk
National Workshop for Handmade Paper
The tradition of making paper in Macedonia begins from the second half of 16th century in the monastery of St. Naum. Paper was made for internal needs in limited quantity. The national workshop for handmade paper St. Kliment Ohridski continues with this tradition. The shop is located in the magnificent part of old city, next to the Museum House of Robevci. The paper is made by a unique methodology which dates from 2nd century B.C. in China, called the "bee nest" method. Genuinity of this methodology gives a special value to the paper.The shop also owns a copy of a Gutenberg Press. This press is rare and authentic copy of the original, which is in the museum in Mainz - Germany and it works in the same way. The press was built in 1937 in Austria. It is one of the only two existing copies in Europe, the second one being in Bled - Slovenia. Methodology of printing is identical as the one used to print the first Bible in the 15th century. The shop is owned and run by Paneski Ljubco.
Samoilova 60
00389 70 639 543 (cell.)
Art Gallery Emanuela
Art Gallery Emanuela is located in the centre of Ohrid in the Ohrid Bazaar. The gallery presents national and international artists, sculptors, icon painters who came from different academies of arts so that every guest can find their precious piece of art. The works of art of our artists become parts of private collections across the world and they can be found in the governments, diplomatic and public premises. The gallery is open for all art admirers as well as for contacting the artists who want to be presented in our gallery. The paintings of the owner and a painter Sasa Popovski are also to be found in the gallery.
St.Kliment Ohridski 72
00389 46 253 328
emadaco@mt.net.mk
Suits Gaudi
The shop for suits from the renown trademark Gaudi is here to dress anybody who has forgotten his night suit in case of a "dinner for two" or any other unexpected celebration in Ohrid. The shop is located in the central part of the shopping street of Ohrid and is owned by Mr. Dzemal Patilovski.
St. Kliment Ohridski bb
00389 70 333 880
patelino_81@hotmail.com
