Struga is an ancient settlement where traces of an old civilization
dating from the Neolithic period can be found. The archaelogical records
demonstrate that there was a community in this area in prehistoris times,
when on the shores of the lake were built the first Neolithic settlements
dated from the year 3000 BC. The first Neolithic settlement, which is
assumed to have been a fishing area, was built on the place where the
river Crn Drim flows out of the Lake Ohrid. It is a pile dweller, an
ancient fisherman community. Many archaelogical objects were found there
that date from the early stone age, such as different tools made of stone
and bones as well as weapons.
It is considered, according to some relevant sources, that the first
inhabitants of this area were the Briges and the Enheleians, and later
came the Desarets. With the passing of the centuries this fishing
settlement grew into a town-like village which was called Enhalon (eel).
The name is accidental. Namely, here on the outflow of the river Crn Drim
from the Lake Ohrid, the longest journey of the eel starts, which leads
to the Sargasso Sea in the Caribean region of the Atlantic ocean where
the fish satisfies its biological needs for continuing its kind. The
ancient historian Polibius says that in the year 334 BC, king Philip II
of Macedon, conquered Enhalon in addition to Lihnidos and the other towns
on the shores of Lake Ohrid. There is an important monument from that
period with inscription in classical Greek, discovered by the monastery
of St. Bogoroditsa (the Virgin Mary). Enhalon was part of the Macedonian
state until the year 148 BC when it was conquered by the Romans. The
connection of this area and Rome grew closer with the construction of the
strategic road Via Ignatia, which connected Rome, through the town known
today as Drach and through Thessalonica, to Istanbul and Asia Minor. The
road was passing close to Enhalon.
The name Struga was mentioned for the first time in a document dated
from the XI century. In another document dated from the XVI century
(Kalimanova Gramota) there is a royal issue: "The incomes of the fishing
area in the town of Struga should be given to the monastery Zoograf".
The legends say that St. Kliment Ohridski founded a school in Struga.
The grounds and the river which was passing through have the name
Klimetitsa even today. It is considered that the medieval Macedonian
tsar Samoil built a church in Struga devoted to St. George and also
erected a church in the village of Vranishta. On his demands one hundred
bridges were built over the river Crn Drim, according to the byzantine
traveler and author Ana Komnena.
In the VI century Enhalon, Lihnidos and the other inhabited places were
in the frames of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. In this period
the Brsjatsi tribe settled in this area changing the name Enhalon with a
new one, Struga, on which historians and linguists have different
opinions; some say that the word comes from the word STRIG (to fleece
sheep) and some claim that it means a passage for sheep through a fence
which was called STRAGA, STROGA, STRUGA. In addition, there are some
claims that Struga means a river branch, a tributary or a river flow.
In the years to come, on the sky over Struga, two brighest Macedonian
stars would appear, the fighters of the spiritual freedom and self-awareness
of the Macedonian people, the dearest sons of Struga, the brothers Dimitri
and Konstantin Miladinovtsi. Dedicated to their mission, they would leave to
their people the Golden Book of Macedonian renaissance - the Collection of
Macedonian Folk Songs. Their lives tragically ended in a Turkish prison in
Istanbul in 1862. The citizens of Struga, in the following years, will get
involved in the spiritual and the national liberation. They would take an
active part in the Ilinden uprising (1903) and the National Liberation
Movement (1941-1945). There is an interesting information that right here in
Struga the Macedonian National Anthem "Today over Macedonia..." was sang for
the first time by its author Vlado Maleski.
In the period after the Second World War the town lives its renaissance in
all fields. Struga becomes a modern town with wonderful banks and wide
streets, with many parks and greenery, with beautiful new buildings, trade
and industrial areas, and catering objects and cultural institutions. In
honor of the Miladinovtsi brothers every year a renowned festival of poetry
is held - "The Struga Poetry Evenings", where many famous world poets take
part.
