Mavrovo

Less than 100 km from Skopje one can find a natural oasis virtually untouched by man. Spreading over an area of about 300 square miles, the Mavrovo National Park offers the visitor sublime scenery of great environmental value - deep canyons, snowy peaks and blue lakes combine with dense forests that abound with diverse wildlife. Stogovo The park is situated in the westernmost part of Macedonia, between the Korab, Shar, and Bistra mountain ranges. Mavrovo is one of the leading tourist areas in the country along with Ohrid, Prespa, Dojran, Popova Shapka (Shar Planina), Pelister, and Krushevo. It was established in 1949 by a special law passed by the National Assembly of Macedonia. Later the legislation was changed considerably, enforcing a much stricter protection system. According to the new law, the park is divided into three zones: strict nature reserves, managed reserves, and a tourist zone. Perhaps one of the features that make the Mavrovo National Park so attractive to visitors is its vivid topography. The relief of the park contains three Alpine mountain systems: the Shar, Korab and Bistra mountains. They are exceptionally high, the Shar and Korab, reaching heights of more than 9000 feet (the Golem Korab peak is the highest in Macedonia with its 9100 feet). These tremendous mountains are distinguished by chains of snowy, jagged peaks and broad grassy plateaus below them.

Between the three mountains extends what some call the most beautiful canyon in Europe: the Radika gorge. More than 15 miles long, it displays spectacular landscapes. Vertical cliffs higher than 1000 feet rise above the fast, crystal-clear waters of the Radika river. In addition, the park area contains many other interesting natural phenomena--the highest waterfall in the Balkans (with a vertical fall of approximately 400 feet), alpine bogs in the Shar mountains as remnants of the Ice age, rare karst relief (including beautiful caves) in the Bistra mountains, as well as numerous glacial lakes throughout the Alpine zone. The ecology of the national park is particularly interesting. Namely, dense forest vegetation covers mountain slopes in the park, while Alpine pastures grow in the higher areas. The various climatic influences, as well as the large differences in altitude are the main contributing factors for the diversity of flora and fauna. The fact that this region is a kind of "geographical crossroads" where major changes of climate have occurred through history is a direct reason for the existence of an enormous number of relict and endemic species. Remnants of the life that existed in the Ice age or in the Tertiary coexist in one diverse environment, concealed between the jagged cliffs and peaks. In fact, the six life zones of the park (a rare phenomenon for such a small area) support 22 forest and 16 grass ecosystems. There are more than 1300 species of herbaceous plants and 145 species of trees living in them. About 40 percent of them are relict or endemic. Moreover, the park is the habitat of many rare plants (like the Crimean wild juniper) which are extinct in their natural habitat. Nearby stands the monastery of St. John Bigorski with its famous carved wooden iconostasis retained colorful folklore traditions. This iconostasis is one of the finest samples of traditional woodcarving which can be found on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia along with the 19th-century iconostasis of the church of the Holi Saviour (Sveti Spas) in Skopje. In the village of Galichnik which is one of the largest villages in Mavrovo, the Macedonian folklore traditions are still cherished as they were centuries ago. As a result of its long geological history, the park abounds with relicts from the tertiary and glacial epochs (even two plant species from the early tropical vegetation). The most interesting tertiary relicts are the Macedonian pine and the Whitebark pine, rare endemic conifers of the Central Balkans. This group includes the endemic Greek maple and the yew (extremely uncommon in the Mediterranean). One of the few natural habitats of the common chestnuts (an endemic Balkan tertiary relict) exists on the southern slopes of Mt. Bistra. A large area of the park is overgrown with astonishingly old and beautiful forests of the Macedonian fir (a riddling hybrid fir species) which is to be found only in these areas of the Balkans and is also a remnant of the late Tertiary age. Courtesy of Forest Reserve Jasen The park abounds with numerous glacial relict species from the Ice age, mostly in the form of awkward herbaceous plants scattered throughout the Alpine zone. Certainly one of the most dazzling forests is the community of Norway spruce hidden deep in an inaccessible canyon of the Western Shar mountains. This forest is far beyond the southernmost point of the range of Norway spruce, indicating that a long time ago it had invaded the Mediterranean regions. The diverse forest vegetation supports an abundance of wildlife. More than 140 species of birds (some of them very rare, like hawks, eagles and vultures) thrive in the forested areas of the park. With more than 45 species, the park is among the richest reserves of rare animals. There are bears, several types of deer, wild goats, otters, wolves, etc. Most importantly, the Mavrovo National Park is one of the three remaining importantly, the Mavrovo National Park is one of the three remaining habitats of the European lynx. A population of 60 specimens of this near-extinct species lives predominantly in the western and central areas of the park.

Berovo - Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael

The ones who have never been in Berovo will find it difficult to picture the beauty of this place from the photos, especially the riches of nature in its surroundings. A hundred years old pine trees, meadows and pastures, plenty of medical plants and wild berries, springs and rivers... Mountain sun. Fresh air. Organic food. Excellent forest honey. Abundant traditional medicine of natural ingredients, which successfully cures problems with the respiratory organs, anaemia, vitamin deficiencies. The town itself is almost at 1,000 m above sea level.
Settled as in a nest, amid softwood forest, together with its inhabitants for centuries has been firmly resisting the impact of "progress" and "achievements" of civilisation. From outside many view this as a deficiency, yet the irreplaceable peace and the tranquillity of life here, man and nature closely knit together – are a real rarity in the present world of pollution and crises. For some time at least... When here, you have the feeling as if you were in a quiet harbour somewhere "at the end of the earth", faced only with yourself, the sky above you and the earth you stand upon... in the presence of the living God. Female cenobitic monasticism in the Berovo monastery has almost a two centuries old continuous tradition.

From History The first monastery church in Berovo was built in the period between 1815 and 1818. It was consecrated in 1818 and among those present at its consecration was the Macedonian Christian enlightener Joachim Krčovski. There are no reliable historical data about the construction of the church and the monastery; still, one thing is certain: the church construction was carried out under very difficult circumstances. Here is what one of the legends says: In the beginning of the 19th century, Berovo was a rural settlement with around two hundred houses and one small and fallen into disrepair church alone. Therefore the more distinguished inhabitants of Berovo at that time decided to have a new church built at the site called Mogila (tomb). The parish priest, Fr Peco, was assigned the task of obtaining a building permit from the Turkish authorities in Radoviš. The Turkish governor (Vali) did give a building permit, however, under exceptionally difficult, almost impossible to be fulfilled conditions. Namely, the church was to be built low, below the road level and not to be seen, construction was to end in forty days, and Fr Peco was to give his youngest daughter, Sultana, to the harem. Those conditions did not discourage Berovo inhabitants from their intention. With great effort and dedication on the part of the believers, the church was built up and covered with stone blocks in 40 days. In order not to be noticed, its outside wall was covered with soot and lime. Seeing that the church had been built above ground after the deadline, the governor got infuriated and ordered the three church elders immediately to be murdered in front of the church, and since Sultana had fled to Kyustendil, Fr Peco was imprisoned. He was released from prison three years later, and his daughter came back to Berovo upon finding out that the komitas (fighters against the Turkish rule) had killed the governor. The foundations of the first female monastery in Berovo were lain twenty years after the construction of the monastery church (around in 1840). The first nuns in the monastery were the daughter-in-law and the daughter of Fr Risto, a son-in-law of Fr Peco. They had their monastic tonsure with a blessing from the abbot of the Rila Monastery. The first abbess of the monastery was Eugenia I, the second – Eugenia II, the third – Eugenia III, and the fourth was Eulampia, who was made abbess in 1958 by the first Archbishop of Ohrid and Macedonia, His Beatitude Dositheus. At its flowering, and that was in the first half of the twentieth century, the monastery numbered up to sixty nuns, with a developed rich economy, a theological seminary, a weaving mill. The first single-phase hydro-power plant in this area was the monastery one. From Monastery Life Once outside the town, in the present the female monastery dedicated to the Holy Archangel Michael is located at the exit from Berovo, on the road leading to the dam and the lake. The main gate faces the town, and the remaining two – the river and the pine forest. At the very entry through the large wooden gate the visitor finds himself in a different world: the world of prayer. The church, built in a 19th century architectural opus, with a large porch, dominates the monastery yard. In the dimness of its interior the oil lamps lighten the saints' images, painted in a characteristic style that is not in conformity with the Byzantine canons. From the original iconostasis only one icon has been preserved – the one representing the Holy Prophet Noah, a work by the icon painter Georgi Veljanov from Strumica, painted in 1818. From 1899 until 1920 the painter Gavril Atanasov-Berovec, too, worked in the monastery. The portable icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos is a work by the painter Grigorie Pecanov from Strumica, painted in 1878. The residential quarters are of a free-style construction. They attract with the warmth of the wood used, shaped in a 19th century old-urban style. Together with the last nun of the previous lineage, in the monastery also live two sisters, who came from the Veljusa monastery with the blessing by metropolitan Nahum of Strumica. This monastery's sisterhood paints icons in the Byzantine style – for iconostases, or to order. The beginnings of the renewal of fresco painting in the Macedonian monasteries have been made exactly in this sisterhood. A true rarity, the monastery is open to the spiritual needs of all well-intentioned visitors. In a conversation with the superior of the monastery, sister Macrina, in the warm wise-hearted atmosphere around the fireplace in the library, many will find the answer to various spiritual questions and also support, understanding, inspiration... The monastery typikon, regardless of the location of the monastery (in the town) and its frequent visitors is a hesychastic one. The monastery functions as a place of prayerful stillness, a holy hesychasterion . A little nook on the upper floor in the church interior in the present has been turned into a small chapel dedicated to St. Gregory Palamas. Liturgy is celebrated four times a week.