ECO TOURISM

 

 

Weekend in Prespa

The two Prespa Lakes – Golem (Great) and Mala (Small) are the only ones on the Balkan Peninsula to have islands. The five- Golem  Grad, Mala Grad, Pirg, Agios Achillaeos and Vidrinec- are located in the three countries that share the lakes today, Macedonia, Albania and Greece. With its irregular coastline, plethora of bays, extraordinary cleanliness of water, pristine nature, and setting between three national parks, Prespa is truly a place one must visit. With a surface area of 273 sq. km, Great Prespa Lake is the second largest in Macedonia after Ohrid. Between the two lies the Galicica Mountain, through which flows an underground stream named Zavir. Through it, Lake Prespa supplies Lake Ohrid with water that comes out on the other side near the monastery of St. Naum and in the Biljana spring near Ohrid town.

The Prespa region is ecologically speaking the cleanest part of Macedonia, its nature seemingly untouched by human hands. The white pelican, black raven, heron and gull all congregate near the lake so abundant with fish, which include varieties such as trout, carp, red finned carp, chub, barbell, and others.

While the unpopulated island of Golem Grad is a protected nature reserve, it is also accessible to tourists. The island is characterized by its century-old juniper trees, as well as the abundance of endemic animal life. When the level of the water falls, old settlements from the 11th and 12th centuries become visible.

Visit the Prespa beauties, the Prespa Lake, churches, unique private ethno museum, mountains, monasteries, villages...

Smolare and Lake Dojran

According to an old legend, a Macedonian girl named Dojrana was accustomed to fetching water from special springs that had to be sealed following use. Yet at the very moment Dojrana was filling her jugs, she heard that her beloved had come back from the army, and forgot to seal the springs. Lake Dojran was, the legend says, the result of her unthinking euphoria.

Due to the Mediterranean climate of southern Macedonia and the proximity of the balmy Aegean not far to the south, vegetation starts blooming in the Dojran area in early spring and continues to do so until late autumn. And so though Lake Dojran is only 10 meters (30 feet) deep at its deepest point, it is brimming with life. Owing to the large quantity of weeds that grow in the lake and the large number of plankton on its surface, Dojran’s waters are considered to be very beneficial for treating rheumatism, skin diseases and respiratory diseases, and many tourists come for precisely this reason.

Characteristic of the lake are the fishing boats and the fishermen’s huts standing on stilts above the surface of the water. The method of fishing here is very original and very old, performed with the help of the cormorants, gulls and other birds that fly above the lake, directing the fish into the baskets where they are gathered in huge quantities.

The father of history himself, Herodotus, noted Dojran’s great richness in fish way back in the 5th century B.C.E. According to him, the lake was so teeming with fish that if you put an empty basket in the water at night, by morning it would be full. These days, the best known types of fish are red-finned carp, trout, perch, eel and claw-fish.

Ohrid - the city and the lake

Ohrid, immortal Ohrid – a kingdom of light and water, a repository of ancient ruins from Macedonia’s earlier kingdoms – is the sublime lakeside town that for many represents the culmination of the Macedonian experience. Ohrid’s major attractions are all located within a remarkably concentrated and eminently walkable area, among and above the narrow streets of the Old Town, itself lined with restaurants and cafes perfectly suited for relaxing on cool summer evenings. Ohrid’s many café bars and nightclubs also make for vibrant nightlife. As for the lake itself, it is so large and so deep that one might mistake it for a small sea. The full range of water sports, fishing and boating is available, and numerous churches alongside Ohrid’s lake shores make for fascinating side trips. The wooded ridge above the lake’s eastern shore is largely taken up by Galicica National Park, a pristine wilderness area ideally suited for nature enthusiasts.

The uniqueness of Ohrid’s lake and historical architecture have been attested by UNESCO, which honored the town with an official designation as one of the few places on the cultural institution’s “World Inheritance” list. Archaeological finds indicate that Ohrid is one of the oldest human settlements in all of Europe. The lake itself is over three million years old. Ohrid town is first mentioned in Greek documents from 353 B.C.E., when it was known as Lychnidos - or, “the city of light.” Only much later, in 879 C.E., was it renamed Ohrid. The name probably derives from the Macedonian phrase “Vo Hrid” – meaning roughly, “the town on the hill.” Apart from its ancient theater (which is still in use today), the ancient Lychnidos boasted a classical agora, gymnasium, civil basilicas and temples to the gods of Greek Antiquity. Under Roman rule it developed more of the typical Roman architectural traits, and became an important transit point on the Via Egnatia trade route that bisected the Balkans. The town as we know it today was built mostly between the 7th and 19th centuries.

During the Byzantine period, Ohrid became a significant cultural and economic center, serving as an episcopal center of the Orthodox Church and as the site of the first Slavic university run by St. Clement and St. Naum at the end of the 9th century. At the beginning of the 11th century, Ohrid briefly became the capital of Macedonia’s greatest medieval ruler, Samuel, whose fortress still presides over the city today. During Ottoman times, Ohrid remained the seat of the autocephalous Ohrid archiepiscopacy (until 1726). During its Byzantine apogee, the town was renowned for its 365 churches and monasteries. These, and a large number of sacral edifices, have been preserved and make up a large part of Ohrid’s rich medieval past. Today, one of the city’s museums has a collection of more than 800 Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, most of which were painted between the 11th and 14th centuries. Art historians count this collection as being one of the most important in the world, along with those of the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow and Mt. Athos in Greece.