The monastery of St. Naum

The monastery of St. Naum

The monastery of St. Naum is located on the southeast side of Lake Ohrid, in the immediate vicinity of the Macedonian-Albanian border. Its building is linked to the name of St. Naum, the closest associate of St. Clement of Ohrid. Records about the life and work of St. Naum can be found in three literature works dedicated to his life. Also the Archbishop of Ohrid, Constantine Cavassila, wrote about him. In the Historical Archives of Ohrid there is a Chronicle written by a priest that lived in the second half of XIX century. It reveals a series of interesting details about the construction of the monastery, the estate of the church, and the lives of the monks. Among other things, there is a record about a disastrous fire that occurred on the night of 2nd and 3rd February 1875, when the largest part of the monastery compound was burnt to ashes.

Towards the end of his life St. Naum of Ohrid built the monastery St. Archangel where he was buried in 910. The church of Naum was similar to the monastery of Clement, St. Pantheleimon, and was built in a trefoil shape.

In the course of the archaeological excavations carried out after the Second World War, only the foundations and part of the walls of that church were discovered. It is unknown when the church was ruined, but the assumption is that it happened before the arrival of the Turks.