Hiking to Treskaves monastery

This Sunday, I went on a hike up to Treskavets Monastery.

I departed with a group of mainly Macedonians from Prilep Lake all the way up to the Monastery and then taking a pathway through the hills until the base of Marko’s Towers’ hill.

The hike literally provided a welcome breath of fresh air after a night out on the previous evening. It is nice to get away from the cement and tar for some hours and just walk through nature.

That is not to say that it is all positive. There was a great deal of mud and pathways broken by streams. This is not exactly ideal when one goes hiking with sneakers. It is also clear that it is a hike that might be better to do during the summer; not only to avoid the humidity, but also to better appreciate the flora in the region.

The monastery itself is quite nice. The monastery, built in the 12th century, possesses a large collection of Byzantine frescoes; with the oldest dating back to the 15th century. Unfortunately, there was a fire some years that destroyed the dormitories that could previously be used by visitors to sleep. Outside the monastery there’s a cottage that visitors can use to warm up and to prepare a warm meal.

The path is marked and for the most part there are multiple paths, making it difficult to get hopelessly lost. That, combined with the fact that most sections of the path aren’t that steep, makes for an accessible hike that doesn’t require any advanced level of skill.