The most beautiful natural sites to discover Povadarie

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 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 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.

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.