Lake Ohrid

About 5 million years ago, a geotectonic trough in the west of the Dinaric Mountains caused the formation of Lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Similarly, the giant freshwater reservoirs of African Lake Tanganyika and Siberian Baikal, as well as several other lakes not so well known in the world, occurred. 

Moreover, the length of the life cycle of reservoirs that appeared on the body of the planet in this way, as a rule, is no more than 100 thousand years (after this time, the basin is completely filled with sedimentary rocks). While Lake Ohrid, which is now shared by Albania and Macedonia, has already existed ten times longer due to its enormous depth and low rainfall.

The length is 30.4 km.
The width is 14.8 km.
The lake area reaches 358 km2.
The maximum depth is 288 m.
The average depth is 155 m.
The volume of water is 55.4 km3.
The coastline is almost 90 km long.
The height above sea level is 694 m.

Lake Ohrid is fed by the neighboring Prespa: penetrating through voids in the ground, groundwater easily overcomes a distance of 10 km, which separates the two reservoirs. The rest of the waters in Ohrid come from precipitation and other underground sources. In addition to its origin, Ohrid has endemism in common with Lake Baikal and Tanganyika.

A huge number of representatives of the flora and fauna of Lake Ohrid, including several species of phytoplankton, zooplankton, cyprinids and predatory fish, are found nowhere else. This was one of the reasons why the lake was included in the famous UNESCO list almost 40 years ago.

Today, tourists come to the shores of Ohrid only to admire its unspoiled beauty. After all, despite the venerable age of the lake, the water in it is still very clean and incredibly transparent (you can see the bottom of the reservoir even at a depth of 20 meters).

Finding yourself on Lake Ohrid is easy: just take a plane ticket to Ohrid, a city that is located on the shore of a reservoir and has everything you need for a great trip. If you choose an apartment to your liking, you can immediately go sunbathing on the beach or rent one of the many boats that are located right on the pier. And when you want to learn more about the surroundings of the lake, you can go on a guided tour of the ruins of Heraclea Lincestis, carefully explore the churches and monasteries located nearby, take a walk in Galichitsa Park or go to the shores of Lake Prespa.