Kriva Palanka

Kriva Palanka lies close to the border with Bulgaria and is divided by the river Kriva. Kriva Palanka means as much as “curved river Kriva”.

Several bridges connect the two parts of the city. The main reason to visit will be the Monastery of St Joakim Osogovski. This is a big working monastery, where you can stay the night. There even is a restaurant. The monastery is a very popular place for the locals, and many people go here for holiday. It therefore is a good idea to make a reservation some time in advance.

The monastery was founded somewhere in the 12th century, but the current complex is from a more recent date. The big church was built around 1850 by the master-builder Andrea Damjanov, who e.g. also built the Church of St Pantelejmon in Veles, the Church of St Bogorodica in Stip and the Church of St Nikola in Kumanovo.
Address: Along the road to Lake Kalin Kamen. Phone: +389 (0)31 375 063 Directions: About 3 km uphill from the center of Kriva Palanka, N 42 12.53, E 22 21.742

The monastery and the church are named after St Joakim Osogovski, a dedicated monk who followed a hermit’s life. His hermitage (a place where one can live in seclusion) can be found near the village Gradec in the vicinity of Kriva Palanka, a trip that includes a nice short walk. See here for information how to get to the hermitage of St Joakim Osogovski.

Allegedly, St Joakim Osogovski was a brother of St Prohor Pcinjski, St Gavril Lesnovski and Jovan Rilski, who all had monasteries named after them. Historical data indicates that Jovan Rilski may have lived 100 years earlier than his “brothers”.
A legend tells that during the Ottoman-Austria war in 1690, the Ottomans ordered the monastery to be destroyed, because local Macedonians had sided with the Austrian general Piccolomini (the same guy who burned down Skopje by the way). The Ottomans where overwhelmed by the beauty of the monastery and decided not destroy it and left.

One of them had taken a bone of St Joakim Osogovski as a souvenir, but the further he traveled from the monastery, the sicker he got and he had to return the relic. When the sultan heard this story, he ordered to place a protective stone marker at the monastery to let all Ottomans and Muslims know to leave the monastery unharmed. This stone can still be seen.

First of all, a warning if you would like to overnight at the Monastery of St Joakim Osogovski: You need to have your passport with you. They are so strict with this that when I showed up several years ago with a drivers license instead of a passport, I could not stay there! At the monastery, they will fill out a form stating that you are staying there and for how long, similar like a hotel would do for you. However, you most likely have to bring this form by yourself to the police in Kriva Palanka, which can be quite time-consuming. We had a car, so going quickly back to Kriva Palanka was not a big deal. However, the police officer gave me a hard time because i had not officially registered myself before within three days of entering Macedonia. Usually your hotel does this for you, but i stayed with my parents-in-law and was not officially registered. In the end, the police officer called his superior who told him not to bother the tourists, haha! The police station is at Sveti Joakim Osogovski Street, N42.20653 E22.33710.

You can stay in the older lodging houses for 300 MKD per person (about 5 euro, price in 2011). These rooms have no private bathroom, and you may have to share your room with others. The new rooms are above the restaurant and have a private bathroom with shower, all quite modern and living up to the standards of a basic hotel. They cost 600 MKD per person (about 10 euro). If you are staying in the new part, note that you can also park at the parking higher up the road. That will save you carrying your luggage uphill to your room! The restaurant is simple but quite good if you like grill. Its can also be rented for weddings (often held on Saturdays), so if you have room above the restaurant, don’t expect spiritual rest. A dinner for two persons including drinks will set you back about 400 MKD, 6-7 euros. There is a kitchen in both old and new lodging houses, where you can prepare your own food as well.

The smaller church of the Monastery of St Joakim Osogovski is dedicated to St Bogorodica, the Holy Mother of God. Its current state dates back to the 14th century but the church was originally from the 12th century.

Several buildings at the monastery grounds remind of the activities that used to take place here, such as a distillery (note the big wooden barrel), the bakery at the entrance of the monastery, and former stables from 1905.

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Close to the Monastery of St Joakim Osogovski you can see the remains of an old milk pipeline that was used to transport milk to the monastery. The milk came from villages in the surrounding mountains, such as those near Lake Kalin Kamen. The remains can be found along the road to the monastery, between the main entrance to the monastery and the upper parking place. They are indicated with a black sign, see the pictures. Directions: N42.20767 E22.36622

See here how to reach Lake Kalin Kamen, including a short hike.

The cultural center of Kriva Palanka is located along the main street St Joakim Osogovski. It also houses the tourist information center, which was closed every time we tried to visit it. These centers often have free informative booklets about the surroundings. Directions: N42.20198 E22.33467

This monument is a charnel house with the remains of Serbian soldiers who died during the Balkan Wars. It is located along the main road through Kriva Palanka, St Joakim Osogovski street. Directions: N42.19804 E22.32417

This church dedicated to St Dimitri was built in 1833. It is located a bit east of the street St Joakim Osogovski. Directions: N42.20197 E22.33653

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This must be one of the hardest sights to find in Macedonia! We read about the existence of a fortress in the Trimaks tourist guide “Macedonia” of the Macedonian Ministry of Economy. It should have been built by the Ottomans in 1633. However, we could find this fortress nowhere! After asking around quite a bit, we found out that it is located in the backyard of the City Hall. It was a Friday evening, but we tried anyway. A cleaning lady let us in, and after a while the guard of the City Hall showed up. He took us to some offices upstairs, from where you could see the remains of this fortress. What a great service! The remains are basically nothing more than a wall, which you can also see if you go right when you’re standing in front of the City Hall. The guard told us that the wall was not build with ordinary cement, but that eggs where used in the construction. Address: City Hall, St Joakim Osogovski street.Directions: N42.20610 E22.33616

This monument for the fallen during the second world war is located in the yard of the City Hall. I am not sure why the statue is smelling its armpit. Address: City Hall, St Joakim Osogovski street.Directions: N42.20610 E22.33616

We did a hike to the Ruen Peak when we were staying at the Monastery of St Joakim Osogovski. You can read more in the link about this 12 km hike to the Ruen Peak.