Pelagonija and the City of Prilep: 24-Karat Macedonia

Macedonia’s tourism is one big untold story. Consider just this fact: Macedonia’s been recently ranked among the top 10 best value destinations in the world by the Lonely Planet. Maintaining our entire cultural heritage, including lesser known and developed regions, and presenting it to visitors is our honour and responsibility. Therefore, rather than focussing on the main tourist destinations, like Ohrid and Skopje, I will defy the so-called classic tour programme and begin with the show called Pelagonija. Pelagonija is the biggest plain of Macedonia and one of the richest cultural spots of the Balkan Peninsula. Through history, it was a place of the highest strategic and logistical importance, the seat of tsars and kings, and the gate to further east-west conquest in the Middle Ages. Since ancient times, Pelagonija was the cultural treasury of the Macedonians, realizing the highest aspirations and setting trends in art and culture. Its monasteries, like Treskavec and Zrze, were the crowning places of emperors and birthplace of various original traditions and crafts. Read more…