Travel Guide Kalista

Despite its unappealing name, which means "muddy water", Kališta is a tourist mecca. Although the beaches here are tiny, the village boasts two campsites and large hotel complexes: the affordable Hotel Biser (hotelbiser.com.mk), the very expensive Izgrev complex(hotelizgrev.com) with extensive facilities, including a water park, and, further south, the tourist area of Elen Kamen (Елен Камен) with, in particular, Hotel Makpetrol (hotels.makpetrol.com.mk) and Villa Eros. All this is wedged between the lake and the foothills of Mount Jablanica. In other words, there's hardly room for a little peace and quiet in summer. Yet it's in this tangle of concrete that the Orthodox archbishop's summer residence and, above all, two precious medieval churches are hidden: the chapel of St. Athanasius and that of the Kališta monastery. On this side of the lake, Kališta is the closest village to the Albanian border.