Berovo

In all the travel guides Berovo is praised for it’s cool air in the summer. But when we visited in summer 2011, the air was blistering hot! The forest around Lake Berovo was a bit cooler.

Lake Berovo is about 7 km out of the center of Berovo. It is not a natural lake, but a reservoir with a big dam. We went to see the lake and to cool down during a hot summer day. Unfortunately, the lake is not really suitable for sunbathing and swimming, because the shore is steep and overgrown and cannot easily be reached.

We found a small beach on the shore opposite to the dam. This actually is an old road that was flooded when the dam was build, so the shore is more shallow here and you can easily walk into the water. I took a refreshing swim at this “beach”, but left the water after spotting a water snake. Later some local kids came by and warned us not to swim there because of dangerous currents. It did not seem very dangerous unless you go far from the shore, but I’ll leave it up to you if you go for a swim 🙂 It is a 2.2 km walk from the dam to the beach, you can check the GPS track I made of this short walk here.

The river Bregalnica flows through the town of Berovo.

Museum of Berovo

The Museum of Berovo is located in a nice building from the late 19th century, close to the town square. This building used to be a school. It consists of one big room with several posters (in Macedonian) about the wars and revolution in Macedonia. There are also a reconstruction of a Macedonian room, some costumes, tools etc. The pictures summarize most of it.

It was very hard to have the museum opened, since the responsible person was on holiday (as was the case with most sights we wanted to visit this year). Finally, in the town hall somebody managed to call somebody who opened the museum for us. The museum was so small that we were out within 15 minutes…Especially if you don’t read Macedonian, it is not worth to go through the trouble of having it opened. But if it’s open, do hop in! Address: Marshal Tito; Directions: N41.70768 E22.85631

Monastery of Archangel Michael

The church of the Monastery of St Archangel Michael was built between 1815 and 1818. A legend tells that the Ottoman occupiers allowed the church to be build under three conditions:
1) The church had to be built below street level so it could not be seen
2) The church had to be built in 40 days
3) Priest Peco had to give his youngest daughter, Sultana, to the sultan’s harem

The villagers managed to built the church with everybody’s help within 40 days, by working day and night. When the Ottoman governor came to look after 40 days, he noticed that the church was above street level and instantly killed three church elders in front of the church. To make things worse, Sultana had fled, and her father Priest Peco was thrown in jail, hoping that Sultana would come and visit him in jail. He was released after three years.

The Ottoman governor was killed later by Macedonian freedom fighters, and Sultana returned to Berovo. The women’s monastery was built 20 years after the church. The first nuns were the daughters of priest Risto, who had married the oldest daughter of Priest Peco! Address: Marshal Tito; Directions: N41.70103 E22.85887

ST Birth of the blessed virgin

The church Rozhdestvo na Preveta Bogorodica, or Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, was built in 1912 and consecrated in 1922. The bell tower was built in 1930. Address: Marshal Tito; Directions: N41.70679 E22.85684

Tourist Information Berovo

Like in many Macedonian cities, the Tourist Information Office is located in the town hall. They can e.g provide you with an English booklet about the history of Berovo and a map with 5 hiking trails in the surroundings. The tourist office is at the top floor of the big white building at 11th Oktomvri, a bit out of the center of Berovo. In case the museum of Berovo is closed, you can also try here to have somebody open it for you. It worked for us, after they made a lot of phone calls! Address: 11th Oktomvri; Directions: N41.70547 E22.85223

Statues

Nikola Petrov Rusinski (1875-1943) was a revolutionary and socialist. He was a member of TMORO, the Secret Macedonian-Odrian Revolutionary Organization. The text on the statue says “Only with organized internal military forces we can free Macedonia” and “All Macedonia is my birth land”. Address: Marshal Tito. Directions: Close to the main square.
Dimitar Popgeorgiev Berovski (1840-1907) was a revolutionary from Macedonia. In 1876 Berovski was one of the leaders of Razlovtsi uprising. Some of his belongings are kept in the Museum of Berovo. Address: Marshal Tito. Directions: Close to the museum

This is a monument for Iliya Markov Popgeorgiev (1805-1898), better known as Ilyo Voyvoda or Grandfather Iljo Maleshevski, a revolutionary who is considered a national hero in both Bulgaria and Macedonia. He fought against the Ottoman occupation. The sign at the monument says: “With respect and gratitude for the liberational works of Grandfather Iljo Maleshevski, 1805-1898. Born in the house that used to stand on this place”. Address: Marshal Tito. Directions: Along the road from the center of Berovo to the Monastery of Archangel Michael.

St Presvata Bogorodica Balakija

This male Monastery of St Presvata Bogorodica Balakija is located just outside of Berovo, along the road towards the lake. Presveta Bogorodica Balakija means Holy Mother – East Friday. The church was built in 1972-1975, on the foundations of two ancient earlier churches. Every year on 28th August, the holy assumption of the great Virgin Mary is celebrated here and allegedly thousands of people come to visit. Address: Mosa Pijade Directions: N41.69660 E22.86179

Restaurants in Berovo

We did not stay in Hotel Manastir, but we had dinner here one evening. The food was pretty good, with excellent service. We sat outside, next to the pool. Price for two persons including drinks was 900 MKD, about 15 euros. This is almost twice as much as the food in a local restaurant, but it was worth it. Try the desert, pancake a la Manastir! Address: Kiril i Metodij br. 6; Website: http://www.hotelmanastir.com.mk/

Restaurant/pizzeria Dionis is very popular by the locals, it was really busy. We were not very hungry so I just had chicken fingers with some beers and we shared a big Shopska salad. The chicken fingers even turned out to be way too much 🙂 Address: Town Square Dimitar Berovski; Directions: N41.70591 E22.85699

This small burek bakery had some tables where you can eat your burek with e.g. a yoghurt. Most people just buy their burek here and leave. You cannot go more local than this! Address: Marshal Tito; Directions: N41.70878 E22.85551

Usually I would not write a tip about a supermarket. However, the Kit-Go Supermarket has really good bakery where you can buy pastry and sandwiches for on the road, like we did. Address: Mirche Acev. Directions: N41.70775 E22.85608

Hotel Penzioner Keki: avoid

Hotel/pension Penzioner/Keki is close to the bus station and located at the river Bregalnica. Restaurant Keki is in the same building. On Saturdays it is possible that there are wedding parties in the restaurant. Macedonian weddings usually get quite noisy! Most of the other people that stayed in the hotel left their shoes and socks outside their rooms, and the stench was overwhelming. It was almost impossible to get to our room without having to gag. The rooms are very noisy, our neighbors used to wake us up at 06.00 am with loud music. The room was run down, old fashioned and dirty. The bathroom was below all standards, no place to put your stuff but on the floor, no standard to hold the shower-head, a sink that was really dirty etc. The room cost 400 MKD per person, about 7 euros. We stayed here for two days and they tried to let us pay 2000 MKD, which was 400 MKD too much. Maybe you are better off renting a room above the Life Cafe (N41.70608 E22.85680) at the town square; when we inquired there the rooms were 450 MKD per person and brand new. Address: Mladinski Kej; N41.70605 E22.85388

St George in Rural Budinarci

Budinarci is a small village that you will pass on the way from Kocani to Berovo. It is about 10 kilometers from Berovo. The town has many old houses and a very rural feel and look. Some of the houses are just used as stables for e.g. goats. We saw this village from the road and had a short stop. There turned out to be an old church as well! The Church of St George dates from 1854. The church key allegedly weighs almost 1 kg. Unfortunately the church was closed and the man who was allowed to open it was out of town.

We wanted to have a further look at this village with its unique rural architecture from the 18th century, but we were overwhelmed with invitations from the locals to drink coffee with them. Because we were in a hurry to get to Berovo, we had to escape from the friendly locals and get back in the car without having a better look at Budinarci. We hope to come back one day!

Hike to Ograzhden Peak

We did a 19 km round trip from the recreational village Suvi Laki to the Ograzhden Peak and back. Suvi Laki is located half-way the road from Berovo and Strumica, so we left Berovo in the morning, did the hike and went to our accommodation in Strumica, the Monastery of the 15 Martyrs of Tiberiopolis.