Lesnovo

Up in the mountains, in the village Lesnovo, the Monastery of St Gavril Lesnovski was built in 1341. The monastery is also known as the Lesnovo Monastery. You cannot enter the monastery if you are dressed inappropriately, but you can borrow trainers and skirts at the entrance to cover yourself. The monastery is located east of the road between Kratovo and Probistip, but you have to head further south from Probistip and take the turn for Zletovo and there take the turning for Lesnovo and follow the road up the mountain. The views from this road are fantastic! We were told not to take the road from within the town of Probistip to Lesnovo, since this is a bad, narrow and curvy road that is mainly used by mining trucks.

The monastery is famous for housing one of three iconostases made by the famous Macedonian woodcarvers Frckovski and the Filipovski brothers. The other two are found in the church of St Spas in Skopje and in the Monastery St Jovan Bigorski in the Mavrovo National Park.

You can still see the mosaic floor of the 11th-century church on whose foundations the current church was built. On the ceiling of the narthex you can see frescoes of the sun, the moon and 12 animals in the sky. Despite they clearly show the zodiac signs, the monk said that they are not designed to depict the zodiac signs.

Millstone caves

Another interesting feature of Lesnovo is the starting eco-tourism. The village is well-known for its production of millstones, that were cut out of the rocks surrounding Lesnovo. This way, many caves were made and there now are several walking trails leading from the town to these caves.

Several trails lead from the village of Lesnovo to the caves. There are info panels about these trails as well, and some signposts. The caves are on your left if you drive to Lesnovo, just before you reach the Lesnovo Monastery.

You will see unfinished millstones everywhere on the walls of the caves.

Cave-church St Bogorodica

This Church of St Bogorodica (Holy Mother of God) is located in a cave.

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There are some icons in the cave and a fresco is painted on the wall of this cave church.

School, Museum and Lodging

This former school building now houses a small Etnological Museum and cheap accommodation for people who visit the Monastery of St Gavril Lesnovski or the yearly art colony.

The old wooden school benches are still there! To get there, go straight on at the entrance of the Lesnovo Monastery. The school/museum/hostel is opposite to the fenced sporting area. You cannot miss it.

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Several farmer’s tools and household items are on display in the Ethnological Museum. The entrance was free because we stayed overnight in the school building.

There are at least two rooms with single person bunk beds (so don’t expect a romantic night with your loved one). When we stayed there in 2010 the costs were only 200 denars (3.50 euros) per person.

There is a kitchen as well where you can prepare your meal. We choose to have dinner in the little restaurant of Zoran, who also manages the hostel.

Restaurant and Info Center

I don’t know the name of this restaurant (if it even has any), but the owner is called Zoran. Zoran also manages the hostel in the former school building across the street.
Because my girlfriend is vegetarian and Zoran had no idea what to cook for her (so typically Macedonian), he invited her to prepare her own food with his ingredients. For me he prepared a great traditional steak (Leskovatski Burger). And I had some of his home-made Rakija, which was one of the best I ever had! I am still mad at myself for not buying a bottle to bring home!

The restaurant also functions as a little shop and as the Lesnovo ecotourism information center.

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The restaurant is housed in a former police station, and in the room downstairs you can still see the bars of the jail in front of the window.

These three millstones are integrated into the fountain in Lesnovo.

When you drive to Lesnovo, it pays of to make a stop once in a while to admire the view!