“Macedonia 🇲🇰 ~Searching For A Monastery, But Found Much More in Kavadarci”
Our visit to Polog Monastery was not meant to be. We had “maps,” we had 3G, and we had the desire and drive to go. We kept walking and walking, being told by the “lady in the maps” we were almost there, too many times.
We were NEVER that close, AT ALL!
A slow moving tractor came along and we waved. We showed the photo of the Monastery we were looking for, and the man motioned it was far away “that way.” The couple offered us a ride back down from our hike in and around the vineyards and we graciously accepted. We were drenched in our own determination, which was now ebbing; the drive, not the sweat 😆We hopped on the back lift and off we went. We stopped to get our car. They waited, as they had invited us to their home. Daryl followed, and we enjoyed the most delightful bit of time; all of us becoming less like strangers. We met the baby, son and daughter-in-law. Soon, the great grandmother made an appearance as well! We were offered, coffee, fresh squeezed juice, canned peaches, fresh grapes, wine, handmade crackers and cold watermelon. The family even offered for us to spend the night with them, if we needed to, so we could continue our journey the next day. We kindly passed, but were so touched!
Through some translator usage on the phones, which works pretty good in Macedonia, we learned there IS a Polog Monastery and quite wonderful, but it takes a boat to get there and no boats are available, due to covid. It’s not a “drive-to” location, either. We then talked about families, and cooed with the one-year old, who woke up from a nap to find two strangers in his house. He thought us to be quite curious.
All too soon, after our refreshments, and visit, we were underway, again, having enjoyed this brief encounter by generous and very kind locals, so much! These happenstance times with the people of various country visits, are our crowning achievements in our world travels!
Shortly after exiting the western end of the wine town of Kavadarci, is a road on the left that winds southward to Lake Tikveš (Tikvesh Lake). It is a very picturesque drive through the vineyards. When its a normal tourist season, without the COVID, at the fish restaurant one can rent a boat and a guide from the shore, to take us across Macedonia’s largest artificial lake to the Polog Monastery, which can only be reached by boat.
At the time of our planning for this visit to Polog, we did not have a good signal and did not learn about the access, only by boat piece. Not only that, but by the looks of the lake, this late in the season, I doubted a boat could even cruise in these low waters.
Below, is some information on Polog Monastery. The photos are not mine, but they sure showed jus how incredible this old place truly is. Very few churches and monasteries survived the war, and needed to be repaired or rebuilt, but the remote location of this religious beauty must have paid off, as it is still intact. I would learn photos are not allowed to be taken inside, but I read where there are some incredible frescos!
This 14th century church, dedicated to St. George and the Polog Monastery is located in the heart of wine country on the shore of Lake Tikvesh. The monastery can be reached only by boat, which can be found for hire, near the small village of Resava. The journey takes about an hour and a half in one direction.
The monastery church St. George is the only object in Macedonia built as a church-mausoleum, in which Jovan Dragushin was buried in a pre-selected place for that purpose. The church was built in the first half of the 14th century, more precisely before 1340, by his mother; despot Maria.
Immediately after the construction of the church, the interior was fresco painted in the period between 1343 – 1345. The interior of the church is completely frescoed with scenes and compositions from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, with saints represented in full height, with compositions from the Great Holidays, with a great sense of adaptation to architecture and an iconographic program that is common for small Byzantine churches , noting the character of the temple.
The Polog monastery dedicated to St. George is located on the slopes of Mount Viseshnica, on the border between the Tikves and Mariovo regions of Macedonia. The monastery name originates from the nearby village of Polog, which no longer exists, since the creation of the Tikvesh Lake; 1964 – 1968.
Now, it was time to move on from the un-visted Monastery, though we did find the lake it was on. Next, we went in search of a castle!
Archive Blog Posts of Our Country Visits
About Us
About Us
Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More