The church of St John the Theologian - Kaneo

Located on the southwestern side of the hill surmounting Lake Ohrid is the church dedicated to St. John the Theologian - Kaneo. It is not certain when it was built and fresco painted. However, a document about the church property suggests that it was built before 1447.

This old church is in a cruciform shape with rectangle basis. It has three-sided apse on the eastern side and an octagonal dome. It should be underlined that the structure is harmonious and it is highly successful in the ornamental shaping of the facades and the dome. The architecture of the church is important when studying the medieval monuments of culture. The broadly accepted viewpoint is that the constructor achieved a highly successful combination of Byzantine and Armenian architectural elements.

In the period before the arrival of the Turks on the Balkans, the spiritual life in the church St. Jovan Zlatoust was quite developed. However, gradually that spiritual life declined in the following few centuries, and even the church itself partially decayed.

At the end of XIX century many reconstructions of the structure and fresco paintings of the church were carried out. A new wooden iconostasis was constructed, and at the very beginning of the XX century several Saints as well as the Virgin Mary was portrayed on the main apse.

The portrait of Christ Pantocrator (Almighty), surrounded by eight flying angels was painted in the dome. Portraits of the Prophets cover the sections between the windows.

In the upper zone of the altar space is the scene of "The Apostles Communion" depicting the angels in royal robe, an image quite unusual for Byzantine painting. Another exceptional element is the presence of the decor in the background of the scenes. This is a characteristic of the works of Michael and Eutychius.

The portrait of St. Clement of Ohrid stands out from the frieze filled with portraits of archpriests down to their waists. To his right is the portrait of St. Erasmus of Ohrid. Apparently, such positioning was not accidental. Namely, the work of St. Erasmus is linked to the conversion of the population in this region to Christian belief as early as the III century, and St. Clement was the first Slav teacher and educator of the Christianism. Next to these two is the portrait of Constantine Cavassila, an esteemed figure in the history of Ohrid Archiepiscopate. His name is connected to the struggle for strengthening the autocephality of the Archiepiscopate. He was the Archiepiscopate's principal from 1250 to 1263.

Among the well-preserved frescoes is the portrait of St. John the Theologian, the patron of the church, who is depicted in his natural size.