Slivnica

The village Slivnica lies halfway the road along the east side of Lake Prespa.

You can find the Monastery of St Bogorodica Slivnica, often just called Monastery of Slivnica, in the mountains about 5 km from Slivnica. The monastery is not so well known but is one of the most beautiful, peaceful and spiritual ones I have seen in Macedonia. Before you go to the monastery, ask for the key in the local store in Slivnica: Key of the church = klucot od crkvata, pronounced “klutsjot od serkvata”.

When we visited the Monastery of St Bogorodica in 2009, it was not possible to go there by car, but the building of a road to the monastery was in full progress! The 5 km walk gave us some spectacular views of Lake Prespa, which we may have missed if we would have gone by car.

The church of the Slivnica Monastery is dedicated to St Bogorodica (The Holy Virgin). Inscriptions state that the church was built and painted in 1607.

A nartex was built and fresco painted in 1612 and in 1645 the damaged parts of the frescoes from 1612 were covered with new paintings.

The iconostasis has been preserved in its authentic state with its throne icons, the royal doors and the Holy Cross carved in wood.

Outside, there is a spring of holy water with miraculous healing properties. It should work especially well for people with fertility problems.

The monastery’s lodging houses have been built in the 19th century and are restored nowadays. There is no monastery life at the moment. We were told that it is even possible to overnight in this monastery for a small donation. There are toilet facilities outside the monastery. Given the fact that a new road was built, it is very likely that the monastery will be more active in the near future, and that there will be more visitors and guests.

Next to the road from Slivnica to the St Bogorodica Monastery this small church dedicated to St Peter can be found.

According to the locals, Slivnica has the best beach on the east shore of Lake Prepa. Indeed, a long sandy and quiet beach with shallow shoreline was waiting for us after the walk to the monastery! The water is not as clear as the water of Lake Ohrid, but this of course does not mean it is not clean! There are more water plants in Lake Prespa, and the bottom is more muddy than the sandy and stony bottom of Lake Ohrid. You can see the uninhabited island Golem Grad (Big City, also known as Snake Island or Pelican Island) in the distance.

There is a beach bar as well at the beach of Slivnica.