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While Bitola was under Ottoman control, there was a law that new Christian churches could not be built higher than mosques, nor designed with any unnecessary flourishes. So the St. Demetrius was built low to the ground, with an utterly unremarkable facade. No passerby could possibly hold this squat, plain building in higher regard than Bitola's fabulous mosques. But the law didn't say anything about the interior of new churches...

As our first month came to an end, we began to realize the extent to which we had underestimated Macedonia. Thus far, our explorations had focused on Skopje, Ohrid, and a couple central towns, but we hadn't been to the east, seen the wine fields, nor visited any the major national parks. So, there was a lot left to look forward to.