Things to see and do Povadarie

This artificial lake (Езеро Младост/Ezero Mladost), whose name means "youth," covers 5.2 ^km2. It was created in 1962 on the Otovica River to power a small power plant and irrigate the surrounding agricultural land. Today it is a popular resort for the inhabitants of the Veles region. There are beaches, several bars, restaurants and hotels, a lighthouse tower and even a small winery (on the eastern shore). The lake is 1.5 km long, 500 m wide and 25 m deep.

This small spa (Катлановска Бања) is located in a meander of the Pčinja River. The 40 °C water that emerges here from a deep fault has virtues against rheumatism and skin lesions. You can bathe in a cave along the river or at the pool of the adjacent medical center (katlanovskaspa.com). Next to this building is a monument to the memory of the Greek and Yugoslav wounded who were evacuated and died here during the Greek civil war of 1946-1949.

These gorges (Бадерската Клисура/Badarska Klisura) stretch for 9 km along the Pčinja River, between Badar and Vardar where the Pčinja flows. Surrounded by hills between 400 and 500 m in altitude, they were an important strategic site in the early Middle Ages. Above the village of Badar, 1.2 km to the northwest, are the remains of the walled city of Baderiana/Бадеријана. This is the supposed birthplace of the Roman emperor Justin ^I (c. 450/452), founder of the first Byzantine dynasty and father of the great emperor Justinian.

This Orthodox monastery of Serbian origin (Манастирот Свети Димитрија/Manastirot Sveti Dimitrija) houses a beautiful ^13th-century church. This one is distinguished by its Byzantine architecture (cloisonné apparatus, beautiful brick patterns), but also by its bell tower added in the ^18th century on the narthex. In 2017, during a restoration, a fresco of the Last Judgment and another representing the founder - not identified - of the church were rediscovered under a layer of plaster.

This is the largest artificial lake in the country (Тиквешко Езеро/Tikveško Ezero). With an area of 14 ^km2, it is used for fishing (wild fish and livestock) and frequented by bathers in summer with many second homes in the northern part, around the Tikveš dam and the hamlets of Brušani/Брушани, Resava/Рeсава and Goleš/Голеш. To the south, on the western shore, is the most valuable historical monument in the region - the Polog Monastery, which is only accessible by boat. The lake extends 29 km in length from south to north to the dam. The 105 m high dam is used for electricity production and irrigation. Since 1968, it retains the waters of the Crna Reka ("black river"), a tributary of the Vardar, which reaches a depth of over 100 m. The lake is dominated in the west by the Višešnica mountain which reaches 1,557 m in altitude. The landscape is beautiful and well preserved, as there are no roads around the lake except those connecting Kavadarci to the hamlets in the northern part. Four ancient hills emerge from the waters to form the islets of Brušani and Gradište/Градиште (in the northeast), Dradnja/Драдња (in the northwest), and Blaštica/Блаштица (in the very south). In addition to the Polog Monastery, the area around the lake contains another ^16th-century monastery as well as two rock churches. The one of St. Nicholas, known as "Mark's Church" (Маркова Црква), is located near the hamlet of Dradnja, northeast of the lake. It is decorated with the damaged frescoes from the ^14th century.

This small peak is now locally called Голема Круна/Golema Kruna. This is the simple translation of "Grand Couronne". Because here, between Greece and North Macedonia, the hills of Karabalija overlooking Lake Dorjan, in the west, have names that are neither Greek nor Slavic: the Turtle, the Small Crowned, Pip Ridge, the Twins ... These are the nicknames given during the First World War by French and British soldiers to the positions held by the Bulgarians. So many places that the allied troops tried to conquer during three years. Three years of offensives, bombings and hand-to-hand combat. Between 1915 and 1918, Dorjan was the "Verdun of the Macedonian front". And its fort of Douaumont was the Grand Couronne, the main observation post of the Bulgarian artillery. Officially called Kale Tepe ("the hill of the castle" in Turkish), and also known as the Devil's Eye in English, the Grand Couronne is only 612 m high. But it is hard to reach, especially in the heat.

Bunkers and rusty casings. From Star Dojran, a path accessible by 4 x 4 and today used by the border guards allows to reach the half-slope. Then you have to walk through the rocky terrain, make your way through the brush to reach Dovdželii. During the conflict, this village located in the no man's land between the two sides was continuously bombed. Only ruins remain. Further on is the deadly Twin Ravine, then the Bulgarian first and second lines, whose trenches are still visible. Only a few isolated Allied units managed to reach the top of the ravine, sometimes with losses of more than 70 percent of their strength. The slopes up to the summit proved even more difficult to climb. The hill is littered with bunkers and dugouts, some of which are well preserved, while the ground is littered with shell casings and projectiles gnawed by rust. The place is surmounted by a blockhouse that offers a breathtaking view of the lake around which the troops climbing the hills were concentrated. The Bulgarians had no trouble anticipating the Allied attacks... until September 19, 1918. On that day, the Welsh of the South Wales Borderers finally managed to seize the Grand Couronne. Only 18 soldiers and one officer were left when the battalion took the position. Despite a fierce defense, the Bulgarians were overwhelmed. Ten days later, Skopje was conquered by surprise by the French and Bulgaria capitulated.

Built between 1976 and 1979, this beautiful white monument (Спомен Костурница/Spomen Kosturnica) houses the remains of 87 Veles partisans who died during World War II, including that of the poet Kočo Racin, who was killed under murky circumstances in 1943. Designed by Serbian sculptor Ljubomir Denković (b. 1936), the dome of the ossuary (10 m high and 15 m wide) evokes a German soldier's helmet from the ^Third Reich broken into four. Inside is the largest mosaic in the country (220^m2), the work of Macedonian painter Petar Mazev (1927-1993).

This 43 ^km2 lake (Дојранско Езеро/Dojransko Ezero, Λίμνη Δοϊράνη/Limani Doïrani) is shared between Northern Macedonia (27 ^km2) and Greece. Oval in shape, it extends 8.9 km in length from north to south and 7.1 km in maximum width. Much smaller than the Ohrid and Prespa lakes, it is nonetheless the third-largest natural lake in Northern Macedonia. Almost dried out by human error in 1988, Lake Dojran has now been restored to its original level, with an average depth of 10m. It is protected due to the presence of numerous birds, including the occasional rare curly pelican. To the east and south, the banks on the Greek side are mostly marshland. On the Macedonian side, to the west and north, you'll find the village of Dojran and several stretches of sand on the west coast, as well as Mrdaja beach to the south and Nikolić beach to the north. Swimming, however, is complicated by the proliferation of invasive plants. As for fishing, it is now done with nets or lines and not, as in the past, with the forced complicity of aquatic birds. This technique, known as piliktanik, has made the lake famous. For centuries, great crested grebes and pygmy cormorants were used as "flappers" to direct fish into reed traps and prevent them from escaping. Despite this, the large white flat-bottomed boats and stilt huts are still an integral part of the landscape, with the beautiful Bélès massif dominating to the north.

This spectacular rocky passage carved by the Vardar (Демиркаписка Клисура/Demirkapiska Klisura) begins just south of Demir Kapija and extends 31 km in length to the village of Udovo/Удово towards Gevgelija. Demir Kapija owes its name to it, since the Ottomans called the site the "Iron Gate": Demir Kapı in Turkish. The site allowed for easy control of communications between Skopje and Thessaloniki. During the First World War, Austro-Hungarian troops dug a first rudimentary tunnel on the left bank, south of Demir Kapija. Above it, the cliff preserves a large inscription engraved in honor of the German Emperor Wilhelm II. A century later, from 2012 to 2018, it is a Franco-Greek consortium that dug the very complex tunnel of 1 km in length allowing the European Highway 75 to pass under this mass of limestone rock with gray-blue hues. The same sector is also among the most popular climbing sites in the Balkans: a wall almost at the peak (85 degrees of inclination) of 300 m high with several routes reserved for the best climbers. For the less experienced climbers, there are also three via ferrate, routes with iron frames installed between 2017 and 2020. But it still requires to come with its safety equipment (ropes, harness, helmet ...). The cliff opposite, on the right bank of the Vardar, has at its summit the remains of the medieval fortress of Prosek.

This small natural site (Долина на Кактусите/Dolina na Kaktusite) is located at the edge of the Demir Kapija Gorge, 270 m above sea level, in the abandoned village of Klisura/Клисура, whose name of Greek origin refers to a mountain pass. There is a large field of cacti here: prickly pear trees(Opuntia ficus-indica) that yield edible fruit and yellow flowers in summer. It is located just south of the church of Saint Nicholas (^19th century). There are also rare vultures and, nearby, the Zmejovec ("dragonfly") cave.

Housed in a former school surrounded by greenery and peacocks, this private museum (Музеј на Виното Демир Капија) is open since 2010. Inside, a real bric-a-brac awaits you: wine containers from the 1930s of the royal family of Serbia, antique pottery, old photos of Demir Kapija's first tractor, stills, numismatic collection, traditional clothing, an exhibition on the birds of the region... An inventory à la Prévert as poorly presented as interesting.

This municipal museum (Музеј на Град Неготино) was founded in 1978. It includes a rich archaeological collection from the nearby site of Antigonia (^3rd century ^BC-3rd century AD): votive statuettes, ceramics, jewelry, weapons, coins or even tombstones displayed in the lapidarium, outside. The history section covers the founding of the present city in 1800 and the two world wars. The ethnographic collection is also interesting, largely devoted to viticulture.

Housed in an elegant early ^20th-century building, this museum founded in 1946 (Народен Mузеј/Naroden Muzej) houses collections of archaeology, history, ethnology and art history: beautiful costumes from Povardarie, traditional house interiors, objects from the ancient site of Stobi... Of particular interest are the finds from the Neolithic sites of Čaška and Kartalica: figurines, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, amulets and a very rare globular flute. The latter dates from 4000-5000 BC and belonged to the Anzabegovo-Vršnik culture.

This mountain range (Кожуф, pronounced "kojouf") covers almost 900 ^km2, mainly in Northern Macedonia. But its peak, Megali Tzena, is in Greece, at 2,182 m above sea level and 500 m as the crow flies from the border. Called Tzena/Τζένα in Greek, the massif has seven other peaks above 2,000 m, including Zelen Breg (2,172 m) in Northern Macedonia and Pinovo (2,156 m) in Greece. On both sides of the border, this region remains undeveloped. The closure of the small Macedonian ski resort in 2020 has not helped matters. The site of a Franco-Greek breakthrough against the Bulgarian army in 1917, Mount Kožuf remains especially marked by the Greek civil war of 1946-1949. Important clashes took place here between the Greek-Yugoslav communist troops and the Greek national army supported by the Americans and the British. So much so that in 1948, the entire population of a hundred villages of the massif was evacuated by both sides. The part located in present-day North Macedonia remained a prohibited zone, reserved for the Yugoslav army until independence in 1991. This region, half covered by forests, remains very wild. There are few marked trails on the Macedonian side. As for the fauna, if poachers have made most of the deer disappear, we note the occasional presence of the bear. The Balkan lynx, the rarest and most endangered mammal of Southeast Europe, could also pass through from time to time, according to some scientists.

This 15 m high stone tower (Маркови Кули/Markovi Kuli) was erected around the ^12th-13th centuries. Recently restored with its battlements, it was part of the Kožle fortress, the remains of which remain. The origins of this stronghold date back to the early Middle Ages, when it guarded the passage between the Byzantine provinces of Macedonia (south) and Mesia (north). The site is unkempt, full of garbage, and access is through thorny trees and along a ravine. But the views over the Badar Gorge are delightful.

Nestled against a cliff in the Badar Gorge, this small Orthodox monastery of Serbian origin (Кожленскиот Mанастир/Kožlenskiot Manastir) was founded in the ^14th century but completely rebuilt in 1918. The major interest is the access path that takes the "Stojan Bridge" (Стојанов Mост/Stojanov Most): an impressive 60 m long wooden and steel footbridge spanning the Pčinja. This structure was built in 2012 by Stojan Trajanovski, the janitor of the monastery. He and his wife sell fruits and vegetables at the top. Great views of the gorge.

Overlooking the old town since 1840, this three-aisled basilica (Црквата Свети Пантелејмон/Crkvata Sveti Pantelejmon) is the seat of the Macedonian Orthodox diocese of Povadaria. Thanks to its incredible acoustics, due to clay pots filling the space between double walls, it is nicknamed the "Scala de Veles". It was designed by Andreja Damjanov (1813-1878), a native of the region and considered one of the most important Balkan architects of the ^19th century. He was also responsible for the Osogovo monastery near Kriva Palanka, among others.

This small 100^m2 museum (Вински Музеј за Pегион Тиквеш-Кавадарци) is dedicated to viticulture in the Kavadarci-Tikveš region. It looks back at the history of wine in Greater Macedonia geographically, from Greek antiquity to the rise of Kavadarci winemakers and merchants in the ^18th century. Mainly on display are barrels, stills and utensils used in the ^19th and ^20th centuries to produce wine, rakija and madzoun, a thick local grape juice. Store with wines from different producers and sometimes tastings.

Recently restored, this 10-meter-high tower (Саат Kула) was erected in the ^14th century, in the early Ottoman era, to indicate prayer times to Muslim inhabitants. It was part of a large Turkish neighborhood that rose on the heights of Dojran, around a sharia (commercial and religious complex). Almost all this complex was destroyed in 1913, during the fighting between Greeks and Bulgarians in the Second Balkan War. Nearby are the old Turkish baths.

Closed during our last visit, this municipal museum established in 2000 (Езерски Mузеј на Дојран) presents the flora and fauna of the lake as well as the old technique of fishing with cormorants. Opposite, along Maršal-Tito Street, an information center, meanwhile, operates in summer. Otherwise, the National Museum of Natural History of Skopje has, since 2017, a branch on the heights, next to the clock tower. Here again, we found the door closed. Finally, in the Greek village of Doïrani, another museum dedicated to the lake was also closed.