Balkans Tour: The Painted Mosque (Tetovo, North Macedonia 5.3.26)

 
May 3, 2026, was a travel day, as our bus drove several hundred miles through Northern Macedonia, from the flamboyant capital city of Skopje to the resort town of Ohrid, on beautiful Lake Ohrid.

We stopped, on the way, for an unusual tourist site--the Painted Mosque of Tetovo.

The mosque was ornate and exquisite, inside and out.  It was built in 1438, during the Ottoman occupation, by two wealthy sisters.  The patronage of two women was as unusual as the frescos on the walls and the decoration of every inch of the structure.

The Koran was open in the window niche.

Tetovo was picturesque, with a winding river and ancient buildings.  Its crowning site, though, was the Painted Mosque.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at Lake Ohrid, which borders both Northern Macedonia and Albania.

Lake Ohrid and its North Macedonian city, Ohrid, are top resorts in the Balkans.