The place is mentioned in Anna Komnena as a refuge, where the Byzantine emperor Alexios I. Komnenos sought protection on his journey to Ohrid (καὶ οὕτως ἀμετρήτους καὶ μεγίστους διεκφυγὼν κινδύνους αὖθις σῴζεται διὰ τῶν Στρουγῶν διελθὼν εἰς Ἀχρίδας). Appears in the addition to the narrative about the confirmation of the Bulgarian archbishoprics autocephaly by the Byzantine Emperor Basileios II. in several manuscripts of the Chronicle of John Skylitzes from the 12th century and later (πρὸς δὲ τὸ τέρμα τῆς λίμνης τὰς ἐγχωρίως λεγομένας Στρούγας εὑρηκὼς καὶ ταύταις ἑνωθεὶς μέγιστός τε γίνεται ποταμῶν). According to the inscription probably from 1266/1267 on the icon of the saint George, a certain John the deacon, who held also the position of referendarios, donated the restored icon by the painter John to the Church of saint George in Struga near Ohrid (δῶρον τοῦ σοῦ οἰκέτου εὐτελοῦς Ἰωάννου τοῦ διακόνου ῥαιφερενδαρίου τε ἀξίαν ἔχων· γράψαντι σεπτῶς τὴν σὴν μορφὴν ἀγίαν ἐν χροματουργήμασι ποικιλοτρόποις ταύτην ἀνιστῶν ἐν Στρούγαις τῆς Άχρίδος. Ἰωάννης ἐκ πόθου τὴν δέησιν ποιεῖται. Ἐν ἔτει ͵ςψοεʹ ἰνδικτιῶνος θʹ ἀνιστορήθη δὲ διὰ χειρὸς Ἰωάννου ἱστοριογράφου).The Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan confirmed the donation of the villages Struga Vraniška and Struga Mala, the upper and lower courtyard in Struga and the church of saint Nikola near the lake with all rights and seven fishers to the Church of the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos in Ohrid (Struga Braniška i Struga Mala i vь, i vь gradě gōrni dvorь i dolni dvorь, i na jezerě crьkva sveti Nikola sь vsěmi pravinami, i sedьmь ribarь). The town of Struga is registered in the Defter for the Nahija Ohrid between the years 1536-1539 and under the year 1583.