Things to see and do Debar

Located 580 m above sea level, this artificial lake (Дебарско Езеро/Debarsko Ezero, Liqeni i Dibrës) borders the town of Debar and covers an area of 13.2 ^km2. Also known as Špilje (Шпиље), it is the country's largest artificial lake after Tikveš and Mavrovo. Created in 1968, it stretches 22 km from Dolno Kosovraci (Banishta in Albanian) in the north to the hamlet of Drenok in the south. In the north, its widest section is 2.5 km long, with a maximum depth of 92 m. The waters of the country's second largest river, the Black Drin, are held back here by the Špilje dam. Located 5 km south-west of Debar, the dam stands 102 m high. It is used to irrigate the region and powers a hydroelectric plant that produces an average of 300 million kilowatt-hours. Popular with fishermen for its abundance of fish, the lake also receives water from the Radika River to the north. This is where the only structure crossing the lake, the Melnički Bridge, is located. Built at the same time as the dam, between 1966 and 1968, it is 368 m long and allows the R 1202 road to cross from one shore to the other. The western bank is the most developed, with the town of Debar and the dam. The eastern bank includes several hamlets and villages belonging to the municipality of Centar Župa, where the majority of the population is Turkish. To the southeast, away from the lake, lies Kodžadžik, the birthplace of Atatürk's father, the founder of modern Turkey.

This mosque (Инќар Џамија/Inḱar Džamija, Xhamia e Hynqarit) is Debar's oldest. But it is awaiting renovation. It was erected in 1467 thanks to a gift from Sultan Mehmet II and bears the Turkish name of Hünkâr Camii ("Sovereign's Mosque"). Rebuilt in 1938, it is still used by the inhabitants of the old charchia district. However, the city's Muslims are more likely to frequent the "Clock Tower Mosque" (Xhamia e Sahat Kullës) built in 2013, 300 m south-west of Skanderbeg Square.

This square (Плоштад Скендербег/Ploštad Skenderbeg, Sheshi Skënderbeu) consists mainly of two small parks in the city center. Since 2003, it has been adorned by a massive 3.5 m-high statue of Gjergj Kastrioti, known as Skanderbeg (1405-1468), financed by the Albanian diaspora in the USA. The Albanian hero's family ruled Debar before the city was taken by the Ottomans in 1395. Also on the square is a small monument commemorating the Albanian victims of the Kosovo war (1998-1999).

This small, single-nave Orthodox church (Црква Света Варвара/Crkva Sveta Varvara, Kisha e Shën Varvarës) was founded in 1597 by the St. John-Bigorvski monastery. The exterior walls are in poor condition, but the church features superb ^16th- and ^17th-century frescoes. The church stands a little way from the hamlet of Sredno Maalo/Средно Маало ("Middle Village"), part of the municipality of Rajčica/Рајчица (160 inhabitants), or Rajçicë/Rajçica in Albanian.

This Orthodox monastery (Раички Манастир/Raički Manastir, Manastiri në Rajçicë) was founded in the ^14th century and completely rebuilt in the ^19th century. It is famous for providing some of the embroidery for the liturgical vestments worn by the Metropolitans (Orthodox bishops) of North Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Beautiful embroideries are sold in the store. Attached to the Macedonian Orthodox Church, this complex is a dependency of the St. John-Bigorvski monastery in Rostuša. It was renovated in 2001 with the support of the Holy Nativity Monastery in Boston, USA, which is part of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis (bishopric) of Boston. The Rajčica monastery is thus occupied by a small community of American and/or English-speaking nuns. It is dedicated to Saint George the Victorious (Sveti Ǵorǵi Pobedonosec). In fact, it houses the only replica of a precious ^10th-century icon "not made by human hands" depicting St. George slaying the dragon, kept at the Bulgarian monastery of Zographou on Mount Athos in Greece. The replica can be seen in the catholicon, the church of St. George. Dating from 1835, it is decorated with frescoes from 1875. It was built on the foundations of a ^16th-century chapel, itself built on the ruins of an ^11th-century castle. Next door, a building houses the nuns' cells, their sewing and embroidery workshops and a small chapel on the upper floor.