Resen | history & culture

Resen in antiquity

Resen and Prespa history dates back since the Neolite. The are was settled by the ancient Macedonian tribe - Oresti. In Roman times when the famous road Via Egnatia was built, passing through the town, which at that time was a settlement called Scyrithania. Later in the 6th-7th century, the area is settled by the Slavic tribe Berizti (Brsjaci).

Early middle ages and Slavs in Resen

During the Middle Ages, the Prespa area was part of the Macedonian medieval empire - the empire lead by Samoil the nobleman. After the Battle of Kluch, some of the defeated Samoil's soldiers, who were each blinded in one eye, settled in a village on the shore of Lake Prespa. The Byzantines called the village Asamati. The Byzantine meaning of this word is "settlement of one-eyed people". From then on, Resen came under Byzantine rule.

The town is mentioned for the first time in the history as a medieval settlement in a document of tzar Dusan's codex in 1337, under the name Rosne. Later, in a document from the 16th century the settlement is mentioned under the name Resne. With the development of the merchandise and handicraft, the settlement turns into a small town.

Middle ages and the Ottomans in Resen

Later, Resen became part of the Ottoman Empire, and it was the birth place of Ahmed Niyazi Bey, a Turk noble who was one of the initiators and leaders of the Young Turk Revolution which began in 1908. Bey's most famous monument in Resen is the Saraj, a chateau he built similarly to the Chateau de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley of France.

Resen after the World wars

During the period of the Second World War (1941-1945), the town and the entire Prespa area experience a total tearing to pieces. Resen and the northern part of Prespa were conquered by the Buglarians, while the southern part given to the Albanian faschists (both an Axis ally).