Things to see and do Prilep

Slightly leaning, this 55 m-high tower (Саат-Кула/Saat-Kula) was erected in 1826 to replace an earlier ^17th-century wooden tower. Originally used to indicate prayer times to Prilep's Muslim inhabitants, it was given a Christian cross at its top in 1991. The ashlar structure is almost 39 m high. The bell tower above houses fifteen bells of various sizes and a clock donated by Germany in 1936.

This museum (Музеј за Тутун/Muzej za Tutun) is located within the Prilep Tobacco Factory (Тутунски Комбинат ад Прилеп) and is part of the Prilep National Museum. It was founded in 1973 to mark the factory's centenary and the four centuries of tobacco cultivation in Pelagonia. The exhibition features over 2,500 objects: snuffboxes, pipes, water pipes, opium pipes, hookahs, lighters, narcotics, as well as tobacco production and handling objects, advertising objects, tobacco products, paintings, photo collections and sculptures.

This Orthodox church (Црква Свети Никола/Crkva Sveti Nikola) features frescoes dating from 1271 that survived the destruction of the First World War. Located in the hamlet of Manastir, 690 m above sea level, it was part of a monastery founded by Byzantine aristocrat Alexis Comnenus in 1095 and restored in 1266 by a higoumen (abbot) named Akakios. The rest of the buildings were destroyed in 1916. The church takes the form of a basilica with three naves: there are only four buildings of this type in the country, including Saint Sophia Cathedral in Ohrid. The central nave features scenes from the life of Christ and portraits of saints Demetrios, George, Theodore Tiron and Theodore the Stratilate. The south aisle is decorated with scenes from the life of Saint Nicholas. In the north aisle, the portrait of the higoumene Akakios, who carries the church in miniature, remains. Manastir officially has three inhabitants and is part of the mountainous Mariovo region. Intense fighting took place here between the Serbian and Bulgarian armies in September 1916. Some 23 km to the south as the crow flies, on the summit of Mount Kajmakčalan (2,528 m above sea level), between Greece and northern Macedonia, stands a chapel that preserves the skulls of some of the 4,643 Serbian soldiers who died during the confrontation. The Bulgarians suffered fewer casualties (1,876 dead), but were forced to retreat, allowing French, Serbian and Russian troops to take Bitola in November 1916.

This Orthodox monastery (Манастир Трескавец/Manastir Treskavec), whose name means "struck by lightning", is completely isolated at 1,280 m above sea level. Dedicated to the dormition of the Mother of God, it houses precious frescoes from the ^14th and ^15th centuries. It also boasts splendid views over the Pelagonian plain and Mount Zlatovrv ("Golden"), just next door, at 1,422 m altitude. The complex was founded by the Serbian king Milutin around 1284 and was subsequently enlarged by his grandson Emperor Dušan, then by the Byzantine emperors Andronic II and Michael IX. But the site's occupation goes back much further. The rock-hewn seats that have guarded the entrance to the site for over 2,000 years bear witness to this. Remains of a temple to Apollo, a fortified town and a ^5th-6th century church have also been discovered. The object of a violent conflict between the Serbian and Macedonian Churches in 2004, Treskavec was inscribed on Unesco's List of World Heritage in Danger from 2006 to 2008. After renovation, some of the ^19th-century annex buildings were destroyed by fire in 2013.

Cohort of angels. Fortunately, the catholicon (main church) was spared. It features a central dome, a narthex and an exonarthex with two domes. Some of the medieval frescoes were lost or badly restored in the ^19th century. However, the exonarthex (fore-vestibule) retains a decoration painted between 1340 and 1360, depicting texts by the ^11th-century Greek poet Christophe de Mytilène. The north cupola features exceptional ^15th-century frescoes by artists from the Kastoria school (Greece). Surrounding Christ, dressed as a Byzantine emperor, is the oldest complete representation of the Heavenly Court, a sort of hierarchical array of the nine types of angelic creatures. The seraphim lead the way. Covered in feathers, they are considered to be the creatures "most inflamed with God's love". Next come the cherubim, symbols of wisdom and science, then the thrones, which turn on themselves and embody God's justice and authority. Then come the dominions, virtues and powers. Behind them are the principalities and archangels. The monastery may also be of interest to hikers. Our tip: take a cab up to the monastery (approx. MKD 500) and then down the superb, relatively easy trail from the monastery to Prilep via the Marko Towers (10 km, 600 m ascent, approx. 3.5 hrs walk).

This small Orthodox church (Црква Свети Никола/Crkva Sveti Nikola) is home to some of the oldest and best-preserved Byzantine frescoes in the country. However, the dating of these frescoes is the subject of much debate among specialists. The building is also distinguished by its unusual architecture: a short but tall single nave. It was built in two phases, between 1190 and 1290, and belongs to the Varoš district below the Marko towers. The delightful little garden surrounding the building has yielded a wealth of archaeological discoveries: the remains of Slavic dwellings, 170 Greek tombs dating from the ^12th to the ^19th century, and Roman and Serbian jewelry and coins on display at Prilep's national museum. On the façade, three niches are adorned with portraits of Saint Nicholas, painted in the late ^13th century, and two other saints, in the upper niches, added in the ^17th century. At the entrance, an inscription states that the church was completed in 1298 thanks to a donation from a nobleman named Vega, his son Kapsa and his wife Maria. Inside, the decor is superb, with magnificent, well-preserved colors.

Problematic dating. Art historians do not agree with each other. For some, the frescoes were painted in two distinct periods: in 1191 for those in the apse (Adoration of the Lamb of God and Virgin on throne) and around 1298 for the nave (cycles of the Passion and Orthodox feasts, large portraits of saints and prophets). The others would have been painted at the same time, around 1298, but by two separate teams: the apse adopts a "conservative" style similar to the frescoes in the church of St. Panteleimon in Nerezi (near Skopje), while the program for the rest of the church follows a more innovative trend that developed in the Byzantine Empire from the second half of the ^13th century onwards. Among these, the depictions of the Last Supper and Jesus on the Mount of Olives are among the finest in the country. The district of Varoš is a former village that was recently incorporated into the town of Prilep. In the Middle Ages, it was the seat of the Pelagonian bishopric, which explains the presence here of numerous churches, including the ^13th-century Church of St. Demetrios, the ^14th-century Churches of St. Athanasius, St. Peter and St. Paul and the Monastery of Varoš, as well as the ^15th-century Church of the Mother of God.

This approximately 1.3-hectare pedestrian esplanade (Плоштад Методија Андонов-Ченто/Ploštad Metodija Andonov-Čento) forms Prilep's central square. Here you'll find the tourist office kiosk, located along Goce-Delčev Boulevard, as well as numerous stores, cafés and restaurants with terraces. To the east, the square is bordered by the small Ottoman quarter of the Old Bazaar, itself home to shops of all kinds, and beyond which stand the Clock Tower and the ruins of the Sharia Mosque. The square is named after Prilep politician Metodija Andonov-Čento (1902-1957), who died in prison for his anti-Yugoslav stance. It is home to a statue in his honor, as well as two other recent monuments representing Serbian prince Marko Mrnjavčević (c. 1335-1395) and Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary Gorče Petrov (1865-1921). The square continues south along the pedestrian street named in honor of partisan Metodija Šatorov-Šarlo (1897-1944) to the Prilep River (Прилепска Река/Prilepska Reka), a tributary of the Crna Reka. To the north, beyond Goce-Delčev Boulevard, lies the small Metodija-Andonov-Čento municipal park (approx. 1 ha). This is adorned with a recent statue of Alexander the Great, here wearing a sarissa, the long spear that equipped Macedonian phalanxes. Bordered on the north by the town hall building, the park also features a fountain and a monument to Kruševo pop singer Toše Proeski (1981-2007).

This Ottoman mosque (Чарши Џамија/Carši Džamija) is in a state of ruin. It was set on fire by local residents at the end of the civil war in 2001, and the municipality is opposed to its reconstruction. The building was constructed in the early ^15th century and retains most of its minaret, which originally stood 25 m high. The town also boasts another abandoned ^15th-century mosque, along the Prilep river, and a more recent mosque north of the town center.

Founded in 1952, this museum and national institute (НУ Музеј Прилеп/NU Muzej Prilep) is housed in a former World War II Bulgarian police station. It houses collections of history, ethnology and archaeology. The latter is rather rich, with objects and weapons from Neolithic sites in the region, as well as Greek tombs, Serbian and Roman coins and jewelry found in the Varoš district. The history section features some 200 Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons.

Created in 1961, this memorial (Могила на Непобедените/Mogila na Nepobedenite) houses eight enigmatic white sculpted stones evoking flowers or chess pieces. Set in the 7-hectare Revolution Park, it pays tribute to the 800 or so partisans from the region who died during the Second World War. The memorial is the work of the great Serbian designer and architect Bogdan Bogdanović (1922-2010), whose work includes the Flower Monument in the former Jasenovac concentration camp between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.

Located on a hill overlooking Prilep at an altitude of 900 m, these "towers" (Маркови Кули/Markovi Kuli) are both rock formations of volcanic origin and the remains of a fortified town. Included on the Unesco tentative list, the site offers beautiful views over the Pelagonian plain and the surrounding massifs. The citadel was built in the second half of the ^14th century on the initiative of the Serbian king Vukašin Mrnjavčević (c. 1320-1371) and his son Prince Marko (c. 1335-1395), whose name remains associated with the site. Both were vassals of the Ottomans and the last two Christian rulers to rule what is now North Macedonia. The hill has been inhabited at least since antiquity, fortified by the Romans and equipped with the first ramparts in the ^13th century. During the reign of the Mrnjavčević family, the small medieval town extended over a 3.6-hectare acropolis surrounded by two rows of ramparts. Three well-preserved square towers stand in the southern part, just above Prilep. After the death of Prince Marko, the Ottomans took possession of the citadel, and the inhabitants moved below, to the present-day district of Varoš. To reach the fortress ruins, follow the Varoš-Markovi Kuli road. At the strange rock formation known as the "Elephant", the asphalt gives way to a carriage road. The road ends near the "towers", but it's another 15-minute walk to get there.