Archaeological tour
April 19, 2019
The natural beauties of Macedonia tour
April 19, 2019
Religious tour
Day1
Arrival in Skopje (20 km) (D)
Pick up from Skopje Airport. Accommodation in a hotel in Skopje. Orientation walk and time on your leisure. Welcoming dinner in a national restaurant. Overnight.
Day2
Skopje – Old city – Marko monastery – Skopje (60 km) (B, L)
Breakfast. We will make a city tour through the Old part of Skopje and there we will visit the church Holy Savior and the Mustafa Pasha Mosque. Lunch in a restaurant. After that, we will continue our trip to the Nerezi settlement and visit the church St. Panteleimon, built and painted in 1164. Among the best achievements in this church is the fresco Lamentation of Christ, considered by the art historians as a masterpiece associated with the renaissance at a much earlier stage than the blossoming of the Italian Renaissance with Giotto. At the end of the day, we will visit Marko’s monastery built in the 14th century in the village Sushica. We will come back to Skopje for dinner in a local restaurant. Overnight.
Day3
Skopje – Kumanovo – Ginovci – Psacha – Kriva Palanka (120 km) (B, L, D)
Breakfast at the hotel. We will check out from the hotel and we will drive to the village Staro Nagorichane (55 km), near Kumanovo. We will visit a medieval church built in 1313. The church has preserved the original stone iconostasis and it is the only example in the country of iconography by using the fresco technique. We will continue to Ginovci restaurant (38 km) for lunch. Next sightseeing will be the monastery St. Nikola in Psaca (7 km) built in 1354. There you could sее a fresco of the medieval Serbian rulers Uros and Volkasin. The last monastery for today is St. Joakim Osogovski (20 km). Built by the famous Macedonian architect – Andrej Damjanov. On an altitude of 825m above the sea level and surrounded by the picturesque landscape of the oak forest, St. Joachim Osogovski Monastery is becoming one of the most interesting tourist attractions in the country. Accommodation in the monastery Inn. Dinner. Overnight.
Day4
Kriva Palanka – Probistip – Strumica (190 km) (B, L, D)
Breakfast in the Inn. We continue our trip to Probistip and visit the monastery St. Gavril Lesnovski (80 km). This monastery was built in the XI century and reconstructed in the XIV century. The iconostasis dates back from 1811-1814 made by Petre Filipovski – Garkata. After that, we will drive to Strumica (100 km) and have lunch. Here, we will visit the monastery St. Leonthius (5 km) in Vodocha. Near this church in the year 1014, 14.000 soldiers from the army of Tsar Samuil were blinded. Our next sightseeing is the monastery dedicated to the Holy mother Merciful in Veljusa (5 km) built in 1080, where you could see a unique fresco of Jesus Christ as a 12-year-old boy. The monastery kept his original architecture and part from the original marble iconostasis and floor. Dinner in a restaurant in Strumica. Overnight in a hotel.
Day5
Strumica – Prilep (175 km) (B, L, D)
Day6
Prilep – Bitola – Kurbinovo – Ohrid (135 km) (B, L,D)
Breakfast. We will continue our trip to Bitola and there we will see the church dedicated to St. Demetrius (45 km). We will have lunch in Bitola. After that, we will visit the monastery in Kurbinovo (40 km) built in 1191 at the time of the Byzantine emperor, Isak II Angel. We will have a chance to see many frescoes. We will drive to Ohrid (50 km) and accommodate in a hotel. Dinner in a restaurant. Overnight.
Day7
Ohrid (55 km) (B, L,D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Ohrid is a city of UNESCO. In medieval times Ohrid and it's surrounding had 365 church, one for every day in the year. First, we will visit the churches in the old part of the town. The Holy Mother of God Peribleptos, built in 1295 by a Byzantian commander Progon Zgur. Their dramatic expressiveness was the basis of the new trend in Byzantine art from this epoch, called The Renaissance of the Palaeologues. Later we will visit the church St. Pantaleimon in Plaosnik, where the grave of St. Clement Ohridski is located (died 916). Our next church is St. John the Theologian in the Kaneo settlement. This church is almost on all cover pages of tourist guidebooks about Macedonia. Lunch in a restaurant. We will visit the oldest church in Macedonia St. Sofia built between 1037 and 1056. The cathedral was the seat of the Ohrid Archbishopric for several centuries and its ecclesiastical authority covered a vast territory, from the Danube to the Albanian coast and the Bay of Thessaloniki. In the afternoon we will drive to the settlement St. Naum (27 km) to visit the monastery St. Naum, where the grave of St. Naum is located (died 910). We will come back to Ohrid (27 km) for dinner in a restaurant. Overnight in a hotel.
Day8
Ohrid – Kalista - Jovan Bigorski – Tetovo – Matka – Skopje (240 km) (B, L, D)
Breakfast at the hotel. Today we will visit the cave church – Kalista (20 km). One of the churches devoted to the Nativity of Holy Mother of God is a cave church and it is a symbol of the monastery as well as of the particular lifestyle known as asceticism and characterized by abstinence of physical pleasures and time spent in fasting and pursuing spiritual goals. The cave church is built in the 14th century and is authentic and preserved with no restoration. After that, we will continue our trip to the monastery St. John Bigorski (80 km). The story of this monastery starts with the oldest miraculous icon with healing power, originating from the 11th century, dedicated to St John the Baptist. The first church was built in 1020 by the monk John. One of its most valuable treasures is the iconostasis, made in five years, from 1830 to 1835. Lunch in a restaurant in Mavrovo (35 km). Our next sightseeing will be the Painted Mosque in Tetovo (50 km), one of the rare examples of painted mosques in the World. Our last monastery for visiting will be St. Andrew from the end of the 14th century in the Matka canyon (35 km). After visiting this monastery we will drive to Skopje (20 km). Accommodation in a hotel. Farewell dinner in a national restaurant. Overnight in the hotel.
Day9
Skopje (B)
Breakfast at the hotel. Free time. Driving to the Skopje International Airport, about 40 minutes from the hotel.
Services for the tour
- Professional local tour guide
- All transfers with our vehicle
- Accommodation in hotels on BB basis
- Meals in restaurants according the program
- All entrance fees for museums and churches
