OHRID NATIONAL MUSEUM - ROBEV HOUSE

This national museum (Народен Музеј во Охрид/Naroden Muzej vo Ohrid) is housed in an elegant Bulgarian-Ottoman house built on four levels between 1827 and 1865 by the Robev family (Куќата на Робевци/Kuḱata na Robevci). Since 1951 it has housed the largest part of the region's archaeological collections. On the first floor, the former stables house the lapidary collection with milestones from the Via Egnatia (^3rd century) and tombstones from various ancient necropolises. Note two engraved stones from the Hellenistic period (c. 200 BC) that come from the ancient theater of the city. They represent the Greek god Dionysus accompanied by his muses. On the second floor are reconstructed the apartments of the Robevs, a rich family of merchants and doctors who were at the origin of the "Bulgarian Renaissance" of Ohrid in the ^19th century: furniture, clothes, a large portrait of Constantin Robev, his doctor's bag, etc. The most valuable part of the archaeological collection is on the second floor. It includes coins, jewelry from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Roman glass bottles and a superb statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis (^2nd century BC). The latter is the centerpiece of the museum. It bears witness to an "oriental" cult that developed in the Greek world after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Neolithic tomb and view of the lake. One room houses the reconstruction of a Neolithic tomb found in the Samuel fortress. It is presented on a turntable, with jewelry and gold objects. On the third floor there is a reconstruction of the Robev family's large reception room with some examples of traditional wood carvings and a beautiful view of the lake. The museum is part of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and National Museum of Ohrid (Завод за Заштита на Спомениците на Културата и Народен Музеј во Охрид/Zavod za Zaštita na Spomenicite na Kulturata i Naroden Muzej vo Ohrid). This public organization manages various sites in the city, including the Uzunov House, located opposite the Robev House, or the National Gallery of Icons. Its headquarters are located in the former Radnička school, a vast neoclassical building from 1922 that dominates the old town in Uzunov street. It does not house any exhibitions, but the offices are open Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.