Macedonia - Ohrid

I received this wonderful card in the Slavic countries RR from Anja (So there are already 2 active postcrossers in Macedonia!) :) It's partially written in Macedonian language, which makes me even more happy, because I realize that I understand it :D Of course, there are some words that I don't know, but I understand the general meaning of all sentences and even the grammar isn't as complicated as it might seem to be (probably that's because I have some very basic knowledge of Bulgarian, which is a bit similar to Macedonian).

According to Anja, there are around 365 churches in Ohrid - one for each day in the year. I didn't know that! This card shows 2 of those - Church of St. Zaum and Church of St. Naum.


Ohrid (Macedonian: Охрид) is a city on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid in the Republic of Macedonia. It has about 42,000 inhabitants, making it the seventh largest city in the country. The city is the seat of Ohrid Municipality. Ohrid is notable for having once had 365 churches, one for each day of the year, and is referred to as the Macedonian Jerusalem. The city is rich in picturesque houses and monuments, and tourism is predominant. It is located southwest of Skopje, west of Resen and Bitola, and east of Elbasan and Tirana in Albania.

In 1980, Ohrid and Lake Ohrid were accepted as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Macedonia - Nevestinsko dance

I received this interesting card from Ana :) It shows Macedonian women dressed in national costumes, representing one of the Macedonian folklore dances called "Nevestinsko", which can be translated as "Bridal". I remember that P.E. teacher at primary school tried to teach us some Polish folklore dances, but for me it's been impossible to learn any dance... Anyway, I like folklore and I enjoy traditional dances, songs, costumes, even if I don't really know much about them :)

Macedonia - Christmas and New Year card

This beautiful card comes from Maceodnia :) Thanks, Ana! :)
I'm actually not sure, how to pronounce the ќ letter, so I won't pretend I know it :) But, as far as I understand, tehse are Christmas and New Year greetings in Macedonian :)

Macedonia

Thanks, Ana, for this wonderful map card of Macedonia! :)
Macedonia is one of the countries that aren't well-known not only around the world, but even in Europe (Some people are just very ignorant, but maybe I shouldn't say this, because I'm even worse ignorant when it comes to chemistry or physics). But this, as well as the fact that Macedonia is a Slavic country, makes it very interesting for me.
In the middle of this card (inside the map) you can see Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Other two pictures show the Golak mountain near Delčevo in Eastern part of Macedonia and a hotel in Ohrid.

By the way, is the name of country, "Makedonija", written in Serbian, or it's just transliteration?

Macedonia - Skopje

This postcard, also sent by Ana, shows Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. The name of this city in Macedonian is Скопје (By the way, I wonder, why do they use "j" instead of Cyrillic "й" in Macedonia - and also in Serbia, if I remember well). Although the site of modern Skopje has been inhabited since at least 3500BC, the city developed rapidly after the World War II. Ana writes that the Vardar River that you can see on this postcard isn't that blue and clear in fact :) Well, I think it's the same with most of rivers in urban and industrial areas, but it's good that at least on the postcard it looks blue :)

Maybe my postcard blog isn't the best place to write anything about politics, but anyway, I use every chance to express my point of view :) I don't know much about Macedonia and I haven't been there, but it always makes me a bit angry when I hear about "FYROM" ("Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"). This strange name appeared because of naming dispute with Greece (if you're interested, you can read more here). Shortly, Greece claims that the name "Macedonia" is part of Greek history and heritage, while people living nowadays in Macedonia are a Slavic nation. Of course, it's all more complicated, that's why I advise you to read the article, because I'm not an expert at all. But I know that my favorite country is Ukraine and I would be really furious if anyone called it the "Former Soviet Republic of Ukraine". I don't know, if there's any good solution of this dispute, but what I'm absolutely sure about is that people should have right to use the correct name of independent country that they live in.

And thanks Ana for choosing a card with a bit of orange! :) That's my favorite color :)

Macedonia - Struga and Ohrid

I received this postcard from Ana (take a look at her postcard blog, it's much more interesting than this one, because her English is better) :))) It shows 2 Macedonian towns - Struga (Струга) and Ohrid (Охрид), which are both touristic destinations situated at the Ohrid Lake.
Here's some information about the Ohrid Lake:

Lake Ohrid (Macedonian: Охридско Езеро) straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern region of the Republic of Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is probably the oldest lake in Europe, preserving a unique aquatic ecosystem with more than 200 endemic species that is of worldwide importance. The importance of the lake was further emphasized when it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1979. However, human activity on the lake shores and in its catchment area is resulting in the ecosystem coming under stress.

I don't collect UNESCO cards yet, but I think someday I'll decide to start, so I'll already have one in my collection (actually, I'm sure that I have more of them, but I'd have to check it with the list) :) Thanks, Ana! :)