In the early Christian period, there was intensive construction of eclectic holy places- basilicas in the renowned centres: Stobi, Scupi, Bargala, Heraklea, Lihnida… The remnants of interior decoration- he frescoes on the walls and the floor mosaics, give evidence about the high accomplishments in the artistic creation. Later in the history, with the appearance of the first Macedonian and Slavic educators, St Clement and St Naum in Macedonia, Ohrid became a centre of culture and education not only of the Macedonians but also of the other Slavic people. The spiritual education that had been inherited by Clement and Naum from the Thessaloniki brothers, St Cyril and Methodius, has been supported in Macedonia by the Ohrid Archbishopric for about 800 years. The Macedonian monasteries have undoubtedly been and are the richest cultural treasure, which abounds in great number of frescoes, icons, carved works, old books and manuscripts. They represent the cultural heritage and the medieval art of Macedonia. The Macedonian monasteries have been and still are spiritual centres, sources and witnesses of the Macedonian orthodoxy. The monasteries have glowed with their spirituality throughout the centuries. They shine even more with all their wealth and beauty. The monasteries also are inexhaustible source and challenge for the researchers and are received with monastery's gates wide opine in order to reveal to them the secrets and the truth which are to be recorded in the history of modern Macedonia. Most of the monasteries represent a beautiful necklace of pearls, which are the ornaments of Macedonia.

The intensive building of monasteries in Macedonia commenced early in the history, around IX century A.D and continued in all regions. The facades of the monasteries are richly decorated by niches, arcades, rosettes-made in ceramics. The lay outs are architectural versatile: single domed and multi domed, with transepts, open porches or with narthexes. The interior wall surfaces are completely covered with fresco-paintings, abounding in compositions and scenes from the Old and New Testament, illustrating the life of the Holy Virgin, Jesus Christ, the holy martyrs, ascetics, the apostles, the evangelists, the prophets, the holy warriors, and the hagiographies of various saints. In the monasteries' churches, the altar screen- the iconostasis have its own iconography and function. It is usually decorated with throne and festive icons of the holy apostles and prophets, and in the upper part there was the Big Holy Cross with scene of the Christ Crucifixion. The whole setting in the monasteries is supplemented by silver, brass, and carved chandeliers, icon lamps, candlesticks, brought over from the Holy Mountain, as well as, by chirps, bishop's thrones, ambones, a great number of church books, such as Gospels, books of psalms, and menaions, crosses, chalices, painted canvases…. Characteristic about our monasteries is that they used to have their metthohs (small churches with land around them), forests meadows, cattle pastures, vineyards, and orchards, movable properties, and live cattle: sheep, goats, beef cattle, and the monks were specially good in bee-keeping (apiculture). The monasteries had and still have their slava ( a feast for their patron saint) and on that day the people from the nearby and distant places would gather there to pray and pay their respect. Within the monasteries' complex there had been bell towers and the sound of the bell would spread to the surrounding villages. Depending on the occasion, it would convey joy or sorrow, or even summons for resistance during the difficult days of slavery. Such was the history of the monasteries in Macedonia on the past and they have remained up to the present time to remind us of the time when life used to stop, the villagers would hold their breath to listen to the sound of the bell towers, because it meant life or death.