Robevi Family House, Ohrid, North Macedonia

The Robevi House is a famous and historic building in Ohrid. It was built in its current state in 1863–1864 by Todor Petkov from a village Gari near Debar. Today the house is a protected cultural monument and belongs to the Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and National Museum.

The building of the first Robevi house was finished on 15 April 1827, as witnessed by the inscription on the marbled flagstone it is a traditional Ottoman Turkish house architecture. This famous Ohrid merchant family lived in the house for 35 years when between 1861–1862 a famous criminal from Ohrid Ustref Beg burnt it to the ground.

Two years later, between 1863–1864 the house was rebuilt. It was divided in two parts: left and right. Konstantin Robev lived in the left part of the house and his brother Atanas Robev in the right part. The main builder was Todor Petkov who built the house from scratch. The family lived in the newly built house until 1900 when they moved to Bitola and used the house as a summer residence.

From 1913 till 1919 in the time of the Balkan wars and the First World War, the house hosted Serbian soldiers. Some damages were found in the house after they left, part of the carvings were taken to Niš in Serbia. The house has been protected as a cultural-historic museum of North Macedonia since the Second World War ended. The last reconstruction of this marvelous building was made in the 1990s. Currently it serves as exposition space for the archaeological treasures of modern Macedonia on the first floor, the second is a memorial floor dedicated to the Robevi family and the third or the upper floor functions as a residence.

Museum

The house is a protected cultural monument consisting of three floors. Epigraphical monuments from Ohrid are placed on the ground part of the house including precious objects as the 'Milokas' (found on the Via Egnatia) road, the two torsos of the goddess Isis etc. The archaeological objects from ancient times and the medieval period are exhibited on the second and third floors.

The upper part of the house serves as exhibition space for objects made by the Ohrid carving school, creations of famous artists from Ohrid and the county. In the eastern part of the house some objects from the Robevi family are exhibited.

References:

Wikipedia

Miscellaneous historic sites in North Macedonia

User Reviews

Ana Nedelkovska (3 years ago)
Amazing and very educational experience, the tour took almost 2 hours. There is an archaeological part with artefacts from different historical periods. It took them a few years to reopen the museum, but it was worth the wait.

Nikola Buleski (3 years ago)
One of the symbols of Ohrid together with the Samuil Fortress, mushroom house, Saint Sophia cathedral church and many others to add. The place where I had my first art exhibition and my first fashion show.

Jakub Jílek (3 years ago)
Very beautiful house, sadly there is not many information to it's history. But it shows some nice artifacts from Ohrid's history

Jamie L (3 years ago)
An interesting museum in Old Town Ohrid. This is a nice place to visit if you would like to learn more about Ohrid's history dating back from the second century B.C. The museum has quite a few exhibits with ancient pottery, artifacts, clothing, and furniture - my favorite was the intricate and beautiful wood carvings on the top floor. Takes about 30 to 45 minutes to see all the exhibits.

Naum Dimitrijeski (4 years ago)
Good

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