A few days earlier we had visited the Monastery of St Spas in Gorno Lakocherej (Upper Lakocherej), without paying too much attention to the village Dolno (Lower) Lakocherej. Meanwhile I had read an interesting article about archaeological findings in and around Ohrid, where Dolno Lakarocherej was mentioned. So time to go back!
According to the article there used to be a Roman settlement in the village, right next to the Church of St Nedela (St Sunday). The settlement is currently built-on with houses. A Roman necropolis (cemetery) was found during the construction of the church.
The only visible remain of the necropolis is a fragment of an inscription built into the church. The inscription is written in the Greek alphabet and it is most likely a dedication or building inscription. The shape of the letters indicate that they are from the 3rd–4th century AD and possibly from Christian origin. Such re-purposed building stones are called “spolia“.
Other objects were found during the construction of a new bridge over the the Daljan river, such as a statue of a woman holding a dove and a marble shaft and marble base. The statue supposedly is in a museum in Skopje.
The Roman period marble shaft and base that were found are incorporated into the church as well, both painted in red. They serve as stands for flower-pots or candles and you would likely miss the fact that they are spolia if you would not know any better!
Chapel at St Nedela 
Fountain St Nedela
Above the church the is another small chapel, and just below the church there is a fountain dedicated to St Nedela.
Make sure to visit the Monastery of St Spas in Gorno Lakocherej when you are in the neighborhood. If you are interested in spolia, the Church of St Nikola in Kosel has some spolia too. In addition, Kosel houses the only active “volcano” in the Balkans! Kosel is about 20 by car from Dolno Lakocherej. More churches in the neighborhood can be found in Leskoec and Velgosti.
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