Pogradeci and Lake Ohrid, eastern Albania

Lake Ohrid, one of Europe's deepest and according to most experts the oldest lake in Europe, lies on the mountainous border between southwestern Macedonia and eastern Albania. It has a unique aquatic ecosystem with more than 200 endemic species and is therefore of worldwide importance: in 1979 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage site. Lake Ohrid is the deepest lake of the Balkans, with a maximum depth of 288 m and a mean depth of 155 m. It is 30.4 km long and 14.8 km wide at its maximum extent, with a shoreline length of 56 km in Macedonia and 31.5 km in Albania. Its total area is 358 square kilometres.

Pogradeci (or Pogradec when in a sentence with a preposition as in "to", "in" or "from Pogradeci") is a city with a population of around 15,000 in the southeast of Albania, on the southern shore of Liqeni i Ohrit, or Lake Ohrid, close to the border with Macedonia. It is surrounded by hills on the southern and western side. It is known for its canned fruits and a centre of vegetable and diary production; there is also some light industry. It has great prospects for tourism as it has an excellent beach and beautiful scenery around the lake and surrounding hills.

Overlooking Pogradeci on top of the hill is Encheleana, an ancient fortress of Illyrian origin. The fortress was rebuilt in the Middle Ages during the time of the Bulgarian invasion. The place of the present city was named by them: Po (or Pod) Gradec ("Under the castle"), a name it has retained until the present day. In the 18th Century during Ottoman times the town was an administrative centre but it suffered extensive damage during the First World War, the Italian-Greek War of 1940-1941 and the National Liberation wars from 1941-1944. There are however still some old buildings that are now preserved as cultural monuments.

	View to Perrenjas	Lini and Lake Ohrid	Launching a boat, Pogradeci	Statue, Pogradeci
	Pogradeci beach	Bathing in Lake Ohrid	Swimming in the lake	Beach volleyball
	Holiday makers at the lake	The beach, Pogradec	Playing table football	Children's playground

Enter your search termsSubmit search form   Web WorldPics

Click on the map to select a continent...