Struga
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Struga is a town in western former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the shores of Lake Ohrid. Located on the coast of the magnificient and eternal Lake Ohrid and along the banks of the Black Drim river, which flows right out of the lake splitting the city in two halves, makes Struga a truly unique city in the whole of Balkans. A real pearl of the Balkan peninsula. A picturesque town in a beautiful setting, Struga is also a place of important cultural significance in the newly formed republic and the birthplace of the poet Kostadin Miladinov. The main event of the cultural life in Struga is the world's largest poetry gathering, STRUGA POETRY EVENINGS, attended every year by at least 200 renown guests from the whole world. The festival inter alia bestows Golden Wreath, the highest award for one's overall poetry work. There are several cultural monuments in Struga and in its vicinity such as the Monastery of Kališta, a few kilometers away from the town center, laying on the very shores of Lake Ohrid. It is believed that it dates from the 15th century, with frescos from the 15th and the 16th centuries. The Church Sveta Bogorodica (Holy Virgin) in the village of Vraništa, is believed to be the one where Tzar Samoil was crowned. The church has many doors and the people call it also "the kings church". Another church St. George in the town, build on the foundations of the Samoil's church, has many icons from the 14th, 15th, and 16th century. Near the village of Radolišta, a basilica from the 4th century has been discovered, with an extraordinary beautiful mosaic. In the cultural-historical monuments of Struga, can also be included its old architecture from the 18th and 19th century.