Travel Guide Rostusa

Rostuša/Ростуша (pronounced "rostoucha"), also known as Rostuše/Ростуше or Rostuşa in Turkish, has around 700 inhabitants (46% Turks and 28% Macedonians). It is the seat of the municipality of Mavrovo and Rostuša (approx. 5,000 inhabitants, of whom 31% are Turks, 29% Macedonians and 9% Albanians). The village lies at an altitude of 720 m, close to the R 1202 road and within the Mavrovo National Park, in the Radika valley, at the foot of the Krčin massif to the west and opposite the Bistra massif to the east. Rostuša is about 4 km west as the crow flies from Albania, 19 km northeast of Debar and 28 km southwest of Mavrovi Anovi. Bus connections: 3/day with Mavrovi Anovi and Skopje, 3/day with Debar.This is the heart of Mavrovo National Park, with its villages nestling in the mountains and marked by white minarets. The most famous site in Rostuša is the St. John-Bigorski monastery, on the R 1202. But you have to leave the main road and the Radika river to discover the village itself. Reka's little "capital" is home to a hospital and a secondary school, the only ones of their kind in the region. There are also shops, an elegant 17th-century wood-and-stone mosque and a recently built Orthodox church. But most of the inhabitants here are Muslims, Turks, Albanians and Torbeš (Islamicized Macedonians). Finally, Rostuša is the starting point for hikes to the superb Krčin mountain.