Staravina

We visited the village Staravina in the Mariovo region after visiting the villages Zovich and Gradesnica. This was part of a daytrip from Bitola.

At the entrance of the village Staravina in the mariovo region you will find a remarkable roofless building. The building is called Upper Church.

Upper Church

The Upper Church was built by the Serbian authorities after WWI, with the intention that the basement of the church would serve as an ossuary for the killed Serbian soldiers.

But the church was not accepted by the local Macedonian population and it was never finished and remained without a roof. It’s a cool building though! Next to the church and along the road to the center of the village you can find some remains of bunkers.

Peshta Fortress

From the Upper Church you can get a good look at the ruins of the old Roman Peshta Fortress. The Fortress Peshta can be reached via a dirt-road that starts just before St Dimitrij in the village Gradesnica (Location: N41° 05′ 17.1″ E21° 44′ 39.0″). We did not visit the fortress due to time constraints.

St Bogorodica

The Church of St Bogorodica in the center of Staravina was built in 1860 and painted in 1887. During WWI the village and the church were heavily damaged, as witnessed by a picture of the demolished building inside the church. Location: N41° 05′ 25.2″ E21° 44′ 10.0″

Monastery of St Athanasius

The Monastery of St Atanas can be found on a hill outside of Staravina, overlooking the Mariovo region. The old monastery church was built in 1860 (we did not see it, it seems to be slightly north of the new buildings) and the current church and lodging houses are from more recent times (a plaque mentions 1965). The new church was locked when we visited. Location: N41° 05′ 09.2″ E21° 43′ 08.3″