From forests and meadows to lakeside hotels and mountain slopes, the Macedonian Orthodox Church – Archdiocese of Ohrid (MPC-AO) owns roughly 100 square kilometres of property in North Macedonia, according to a new BIRN database that sheds fresh light on the Church’s assets.
In “Religious Properties Uncovered”, BIRN identified a total of 14,757 individual pieces of property in cadastral records over which the Macedonian Orthodox Church, its dioceses and individual churches owns, or has other rights to.
The Islamic Religious Community (IRC), its muftis’ offices and mosques, are listed as having ownership or other rights over 5,363 properties, covering 13 square kilometres.
The Religious Properties Uncovered database allows readers to view several parameters, such as the number and land area of the properties of the two religious communities.
They can also search the properties by purpose, the municipality in which they are located, or the diocese or mufti whose jurisdiction they fall under.
Other key findings from the database:
- MOC-AO controls about one-third of the Galicica mountain and large parts of the Macedonian side of the Jablanica mountain range. The IRC’s largest land parcel is located on the southern slopes of Vodno mountain, near the capital.
- Over 80 per cent of the MOC-AO’s property consists of forests, meadows and pastures, covering around 8,100 hectares, while the IRC holds 3,200 hectares of forest.
- MOC-AO owns 1,300 hectares of agricultural land, while the IRC controls 1,700 hectares.
- MOC-AO has about 140,000 m² of residential space, and the IRC holds over 37,000 m², including new residential buildings in Skopje, Bitola, Tetovo, and other cities.
- The Church owns commercial properties in the old bazaars of Skopje, Bitola, Ohrid and Prilep, while the IRC manages Debar’s market, a shopping complex in Gostivar, and properties in Struga, Tetovo and Bitola.
- MOC-AO is the registered owner of the Izgrev and Biser hotels on Lake Ohrid, while the IRC owns an apartment in the Park Lakeside hotel in Ohrid.
The “Religious Property Uncovered” database was prepared over one year, is publicly accessible and aims to promote transparency and raise awareness about the scale and structure of religious institutions’ property holdings in the country.