A traveling blogger and communications specialist in the tourism industry, Tricia A. Mitchell, tells of her curious find in Macedonia's UNESCO registered Ohrid old town.

A member of the Marinov artisanal family; photo by Tricia A. Mitchell, used with permission.

In Ohrid, Macedonia, the Marinov family has been fashioning utilitarian and decorative objects out of copper and brass for one hundred years.

We happened upon the third and fourth-generation artists’ small studio one afternoon, while exploring Ohrid’s UNESCO-registered old town, which is replete with hundreds of Eastern Orthodox churches. The Marinov shop is filled with handmade gladiator masks and shields – said to be designed with motifs from the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia, as well as jewelry, and home accessories.