Church of the Virgin Mary Peribleptos

A small, but beautiful church with ancient paintings inside. On the outside are views of the town and lake and an icon gallery.

The church has beautiful frescoes and historic value, but sadly it feels neglected and not well maintained. I didn’t experience much spiritual atmosphere here, and was disappointed by the behavior of the staff. Entrance is €3

Very close to the Ancient Theatre of Ohrid, after walking up the steps to visit the area. Cost is 150 MKD per person and no pictures are allowed to be taken inside, it is forbidden. Built in 1295, the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos is one of the oldest churches in the town of Ohrid in southwestern Macedonia. The frescoes in the church include images from the Passion and the Gospels, the life of the Virgin Mary, and the life of John the Baptist. Most of the original frescoes have faded, but the overall picture is still there to see. Overall, worth a visit if in the area.

As told by our guide of the old town. This church (and fresco interior) survived the great Ottoman purge, of the region, due to it being dedicated to Mary the mother of Jesus who is recognised in the Koran.

Quite close to Upper Gate, again a nice restored church which has nice views of old town and lake.

Beautiful artwork but very dark inside and hard to discern some of the images. Worth a stop on the way up or down to/from the fortress.

Although smalller than St Sophia this is a prime example of Eastern Roman architecture and painting in the town and the whole of the Balkans. The frescoes inside are breathtakingly beautiful but photographs are strictly forbidden, I snapped a picture but the guy guarding the place made me delete it, probably wanted a bribe as I see plenty of pics from others here on google maps. This is a place not to be missed when in town regardless of your faith

As of September 2025, this church is definitely open on Saturdays and Sundays. If Google says it is closed on weekends it is wrong. Very impressive restored frescoes! No pictures allowed, but in the niche to the right of the alter there is a character at the top (perhaps a straggly-haired counterculture Jesus) whose face almost looks cubist! It could be a strange restoration choice, but the level of abstraction in Orthodox art is really incredible. Highly recommended, and even on a busy weekend, not many people... maybe because of Google's wrong hours.