Travel Guide Prepa

Situation. The large Prespa lake (Prespansko Ezero) covers 273.6 km2. It is shared between the Republic of Macedonia (190 km2), Greece (84.8 km2) and Albania (38.8 km2). The part of the lake located in the Republic of Macedonia is located in the territory of the municipality of Resen (Ресен), which has 43 villages and 16,000 inhabitants (76% Slavo-Macedonians, 9% Albanians, 9% Turks). The city of Resen is located 14 km north of the lake, 30 km north of the Greek border (but no direct crossing points, it is necessary to pass through Albania or Bitola), 32 km north of Kallamas (Albania), 36 km east of Ohrid, 43 km west of Bitola.Description. During the communist era, the Yugoslav part of the great Prespa Lake was a very popular destination: the village of Konjsko was one of Tito's favourite holiday destinations, and a hotel complex hosted the nomenklatura in Oteševo. Today, the lake is abandoned. For nature lovers, that's good. Because it is a fantastic nature reserve housing one of the last colonies of Dalmatian pelicans in Europe, but also turtles, snakes, etc. The beaches here are more pleasant than on Lake Ohrid. The water is certainly less clear, but it is warmer. And this is not due to any possible industrial pollution: there is no factory here, only apples. Despite an altitude of 850 m, the waters easily reach 25 °C, and the beaches are sandy. Around the lake, there are rare villages where time passes at the rhythm of the seasons and field work. The eastern coast is home to two small Byzantine churches with exceptional frescoes: that of the Slivnical monastery and, above all, the St George's Church in Kurbinovo.