Mavrovo National Park

Mavrovo National Park (also know as Национален парк Маврово in Macedonian and Parku kombëtar i Mavrovës in Albanian) is a 730 km² park located in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, close to the borders with Albania and Kosovo. It has nice views, a lot of nature, picturesque mountain villages and Mount Korab (2,764 m), highest mountain in North Macedonia. It also features many cultural and historical attractions, including some of North Macedonia's best-known villages.

How do I arrive to Mavrovo National Park?

 The area isn't too difficult to be reached, being able to arrive, among others, from Skopje or from Tetovo too.

• Bus: there are two daily buses from Skopje to Mavrovo. To visit St. Jovan Bigorski Monastery you should take the bus that goes from Debar to Ohrid or Struga.
• Car: Mavrovo can be reached from many places like Gostivar (aprox. 40 minutes), Tetovo or Debar (aprox. 1 hour), Skopje (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes), Ohrid and Struga (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes). Once there you can move to other villages withing the National Park such as Galičnik (aprox. 35 minutes), Rostuša (aprox. 40 minutes) Janče (aprox. 45 minutes) or Lazaropole (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes).

 Once in the Park the best ways to move around the park are the car, taxis or simply hiking.  

History

The area is mainly inhabited by Mijaks, a Macedonian ethnographic group who live along the Radika river (around 30,000-60,000 people), practising animal husbandry and have a characteristic Galičnik dialect of the Macedonian language. With the fall of medieval Serbia, the Mijaks likely gathered in the Mala Reka region and continued to live as an autonomous tribe. A proportion of Mijaks converted to Islam during the 16th and 17th centuries, and they are known by the name torbeš. In the 18th century, the Mijaks had an armed conflict with the Islamized population regarding pasture lands and i the first half of the 19th century, a notable part of the population were Albanianized (re-Christianized in 1843). In 1875 the majority supported the accession to the Bulgarian Exarchate but after the Treaty of San Stefano (1878), the Debar county asked Prince Milan of Serbia to annex the region to Serbia, done after the Principality of Bulgaria received most of the Macedonia region by the Ottoman Empire. During the Ilinden uprising in Kruševo, the Mijaks were divided into Serbs and Bulgarians. Mavrovo National Park was established in 1949 and later the legislation was changed to enforce a much stricter protection system. 

What can I visit in Mavrovo National Park?

Mavrovo National Park is the largest in North Macedonia and is located within Sharr Mountains and has North Macedonia's highest peak as well as lakes, rivers, and caves.Many outdoors activities can be done here as well as discover the great cultural heritage. Here they'll be explained now according to the town or village where they are or the nearest one:     

• Mavrovo (Маврово in Macedonian, Mavrova in Albanian): 166 inhabitants village located in the center of the National Park.
  • Mavrovo Lake: artifical lake that is excellent for swimming, boating and fishing in the summer months and freezes over in winter. Until 1947 river Mavrovo flowed but then it was dammed.
  • St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church (summer season): half-submerged church in Mavrovo Lake that sometimes it can be seen. Built in 1850 and has beautiful frescoes and stonework and even though the roof is completely gone, the walls and bell tower on the façade remain intact.
  • Šarkova Hole: 25 m long cave rich in stalactites and stalagmites, and is home to populations of bats, lizards and insects. It's located at the end of a short, paved trail from the village Mavrovo.
  • Mavrovo Tourist Info Point (8-18).
  • Mavrovo ski resort: best ski resort in North Macedonia (although compared to other international ones it can be considered it isn't that good). It has 25 km of ski slopes. 
  • Not far from here it can be found Kičinica (Кичиница in Macedonian, Kiçnicë in Albanian), an inhabited village that used to be home of Orthodox Albanians.
• In the north of Mavrovo it can be found the ethnic Albanian village of Žužnje (in Macedonian, Zhuzhnjë in Albanian), 8 people, known for its handcrafts and the picturesque traditional women's costumes (theu use silver beads and filigree). Close to is the beech forest of Dlaboka Reka, placed in 2019 as a tentative extention of the transnational World Heritage Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe.
• Not far from Mavrovo it's located the small village of Belčica (Белица in Macedonian, Belica in Albanian), 106 inhabitants. The visitor can enjoy St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church, an uncommon squarish shape church from 1885, noted for its icons and frescoes (two of them were done by Nikolaj Mihailov). Close to it, in the village of Trnica, it can be seen Belčica Massacre Memorial, a memorial to 40 victims massacred by the Albanian anti-communist Balli Kombëtar on 1944. This village is the starting point for hikes to Mount Korab (highest mountain in North Macedonia and the 4th in the Balkans) too. Hikes are quite demaning but don't involve any rock climbing (caution with sheep dogs!) and Korab Waterfall, highest waterfall in the Balkans on the upper course of river Dlaboka, can be reached on the ascension to Mount Korab or from paths from the 3 nearest villages (Bibaj, Nistrovo and Žužnje). 
• Rostuša (Ростуша in Macedonian, Radostusha in Albanian, Rostuşa in Turkish): 872 inhabitants village located in the western part of Mavrovo National Park, in the road that connects Gostivar with Debar. It was traditionally inhabited by Muslim Macedonians (torbeš)
  • St. Jovan Bigorski Monastery (free): monastery was built in 1020 by Ivan I Debranin that was destroyed by the Ottomans in the 16th century, restored in 1743 and damaged by a fire in 2009 (being rebuilt very closely to its original style). One of its most valuable treasures is the iconostasis (created by Petre Filipovic-Garkata), considered one of the finest examples of wood-carved iconostases. It also has a large collection of holy relics (including John the Baptist, Clement of Ohrid, St. Stephen, St. Nicholas, St. Barbara...), part of the Holy Cross and even an icon dating from 1020.
  • Rostuša Old Mosque: 17th century mosque considered one of the more historically significant of the region.
  • Duf Waterfall: 23 m high falls of river Rostuša, accessible via a easy and beautiful hike (aprox. 30 minutes). Water flows year-round and has equipment to descend near the falls by rope.
• Continuing that road the visitor reached Janče (Јанче in Macedonian, Jança in Albanian), 146 inhabitants village mainly inhabited by Orthodox Macedonians and Muslim Macedonians (torbeš). This traditional village has impressing views and many traditional style houses.
• Galičnik (Галичник in Macedonian, Galiçniku in Albanian, Галичник in Macedonian): picturesque 3 inhabitants village in the southern part of the National Park considered one of the oldest Mijak villages in the region. Mijak people are an ethnographic group of Macedonians that have their own dialect and very unique traditions.
  • Galičnik has preserved well its traditional architecture and visiting it is very interesting.
  • Galičnik Wedding Festival: festival that takes place around the 12th of July in which selected couple gets married in the traditional Galička style wedding. During the wedding men dance teškoto (Mijak folk dance).
  • There are hiking routes around Galičnik and it can even be reached Janče (6 km).
  • Visitors can also have tours using horses through the mountains surrounding Galičnik.
• Another interesting Mijak village is Lazaropole (Лазарополе in Macedonian, Razapola in Albanian), uninhabitanted, that keeps the traditional architecture and has a nice church in the hilltop, St. Gjorgjija Macedonian Orthodox Church. It's 1841 large church frescoed by Dičo Zograf and sometimes is thought to be one of the most impressive village churches in the country.

St. Jovan Bigorski Monastery

Galičnik Wedding Festival

 

 

Where can I eat in Mavrovo National Park?

The most typical dishes are kashkaval [кашкавал] (type of yellow cheese). This National Park is almost uninhabited so it's important to bring food from outside the park. But it doens't mean there aren't any culinary offers. These are some choices available: the restaurant of Hotel Tutto (Janče), the restaurant Rekanski Merak [Рекански Мерак] (Skudrinje), Glamour [Гламур] (Mavrovo) or Mavrovski Merak [Мавровски мерак] (Mavrovo).

Posted in: Europe,National Park,North Macedonia