Samuil’s Fortress, Ohrid, Macedonia

Rising above the city, Samuil’s Fortress is the most recognizable symbol of Ohrid and one of the largest medieval fortifications in Macedonia. Its massive walls and towers stretch across the entire hill, enclosing the historic heart of the city. With the exception of the southern side, which faces the lake, the hill was protected by high stone walls and towers extending nearly three kilometers, all the way toward the old harbor.

The earliest written sources tell us that fortifications existed here as early as antiquity. The ancient historian Polybius mentions that during the first military campaigns in this region, Philip II of Macedon ordered a stronghold to be built on the hill above the lake.

The first clear historical reference to the city—then known as Lychnidos—dates from 209 BCE, when the Roman historian Livy wrote that the fortress was already built and actively used.

Over the centuries, the fortress was repeatedly destroyed, rebuilt, and expanded. As a result, it carries traces of many civilizations that ruled Ohrid—Romans, Byzantines, Slavs, and Ottomans. However, most of the walls, towers, and the citadel as we see them today date from the reign of Tsar Samuil, who ruled between 976 and 1014. During this period, Ohrid was the capital of the first state of the Macedonian Slavs. For this reason, the fortress is known today as Samuil’s Fortress.

After the fall of Samuil’s state and the return of Byzantine rule, Emperor Basil II ordered the fortress to be destroyed. It was later restored, most likely during the reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, and once again rebuilt in the late 14th century under the local ruler Andrea Gropa.

Following the Ottoman conquest, a military garrison was stationed here, but the fortress gradually lost its strategic importance. Still, it remained both a defensive structure and a place of residence. The central area—the citadel—was divided into two sections: one for the ruler and one for the soldiers. The outer walls were reinforced with towers, including the largest and strongest tower placed at the most vulnerable point. The main entrance to the citadel was especially well protected, flanked by two semi-circular defensive towers.

The city could be entered through three main gates: the Upper Gate, the Front Gate, and the Lower Gate, close to the shore of Lake Ohrid, near the Church of St. Nicholas Bolnichki.  

The final chapter in the fortress’s active history came at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century, during the rule of Djeladin Bey, a local Ottoman rebel. He was the last to make major changes to the citadel and to use it for both defense and residence. In 1808, he built his palace here, known as the Upper Saray. After his escape from Ohrid in 1830, the palace was demolished.

For nearly two centuries afterward, the fortress was left to decay. Only in the year 2000 did large-scale archaeological research and conservation begin. Systematic excavations were carried out, and the walls and towers of the central citadel were stabilized, conserved, and restored.

Today, as you walk along these ancient ramparts, you are standing at a place that has guarded Ohrid for more than two thousand years—offering not only a journey through history, but also one of the most breathtaking views of the city and the lake below.

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