Things to see and do Makedonski Brod

The "Salt Spring Cave" (Пештера Слатински Извор/Peštera Slatinski Izvor) is the largest in the country. It is over 4 km long, of which around 1,000 m have been explored, and is home to numerous stalactites and stalagmites, a river and several small lakes. Unesco-listed, it was created in dolomitic marble during the last Ice Age. The entrance is through a small, crudely-constructed opening. But it's best not to venture too far without caving equipment and experience.

This cave (Пештера Пешна/Peštera Pešna) has the largest opening of any cave in the Balkans: 40 m high and 56 m wide. It lies beneath Mount Dautica (2,178 m above sea level), near the modern minimonastery of Archangel Michael in the hamlet of Pešna (pop. 5). Compared to Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings, its entrance is guarded by medieval fortifications. Easy to access, the first chamber is home to swallows and bats. But it belongs to the country's largest cave network, estimated to be 10 km long.

This artificial lake (Езеро Козјак/Ezero Kozjak) is the largest in the country. Built on the Treska River, it covers 13.5 ^km2 and is 32 km long from south to north, with a maximum width of 400 m and depth of 130 m. Although it is a long way from Makedonski Brod, most of it lies within the municipality. Its southern tip is at the hamlet of Dolna Belica/Долна Белица, 28 km north of the town of Makedonski Brod. The northern part, meanwhile, is part of the Jasen nature reserve (311 ^km2), which also encompasses the Matka canyon on the outskirts of Skopje. The lake was created in 2004, after ten years' work. Sandwiched between the Suva Gora massif (1,857 m above sea level) to the east and the Karadžica massif (2,473 m) to the west, the Treska is held back by the country's highest dam: a 130 m-high arched structure. It is located near the hamlet of Nova Breznica/Нова Брезница. The latter is located in Suva Gora, 71 km northeast of Makedonski Brod.

Dreaded but superb little road. From Nova Breznica, small road no. 302 leads to the dam. It is 13 km long and very narrow, starting at an altitude of 713 m, climbing to 1,049 m before winding its way down to the dam at 495 m. This is one of the most beautiful roads in the region. This is one of the most dangerous roads in the country. But it offers superb panoramic views of the lake and surrounding mountains. More peaceful is the road that runs along the western shore of the lake under the Karadžica mountain. It is reached by an impressive bridge 18 km north of Dolna Belica. Built in 2003, it has a 358 m-long deck supported by five piers, the highest of which is 64 m high. Once across the bridge, you can reach the lakeside hamlet of Blizansko/Близанско, 3 km to the south. Alternatively, continue north for 7 km. This stretch serves two areas of waterfront villas. The lake is full of fish, and locals come here on weekends to fish for Macedonian trout(Salmo macedonicus), rainbow trout, carp, chub, hotu, barbel, spirlin or eel. The asphalt road then ends, giving way to a track that is difficult to cross without a 4 x 4. But this part of the lake is less interesting than the one to the north-east, near the dam. Route no. 302 is certainly formidable, but here you can enjoy the Jasen nature reserve's well-developed hiking trails and even a panoramic restaurant.

This Orthodox monastery (Поречки Манастир/Porečki Manastir) was founded around 1282 by the Serbian king Milutin. But most of the current buildings date from the ^19th century. These form a beautiful enclosure around the catholicon, which houses ^18th-century frescoes and fragments of paintings dating from the ^11th to ^13th centuries. On the road to Gorni Manastirec (pop. 10) is a chapel-shaped ossuary built in 1938. It houses the remains of 103 Serbian and pro-Serb monks and inhabitants who were massacred by the Bulgarian army on January 6, 1916.

This Orthodox monastery (Зрзески Манастир/Zrzeski Manastir) has a bedtime name (pronounced "zerzé"), but it's renowned for its ^16th-century frescoes, icons and enchanting setting. Surrounded by cliffs and oak forests, it sits atop a hill at 960 m altitude. Dominated by Mount Dautica (2,178 m), it offers sweeping views over the Pelagonian plain. The complex was founded around 1340 by a Serbian monk named German, and became an important staging post for Serbian kings in the region. It then went through several phases of decline and rebirth, before being fully restored in 2016. Today, it is home to a dozen monks and novices who paint and sell icons. There are several churches and the remains of a religious occupation dating back to the^5th century. Beneath the retaining wall and cliff face lie some 30 caves that served as cells, workshops and tombs for hermits from the ^9th century onwards. It's possible to visit around ten of them. Among them, an ancient chapel preserves a badly damaged fresco.

Onufri frescoes. The highlight of the visit is the catholicon. The main church is dedicated to the Transfiguration (Преображение/Preobraženje), the episode in which Christ reveals his divine nature to the apostles Peter, James and John. Modest in size, without a dome or transept, it was built in the ^14th century and remodeled many times. The interior houses frescoes painted in 1535 by Onufri, Albania's greatest painter, whose secret of sparkling reds has never been discovered. But about half of his works have disappeared here, especially on the vault. Those that remain bear the marks of regular hammering to adhere a plaster to paint new frescoes in the ^18th century. The latter, of poor workmanship, were removed in 1963 to restore one of the masterpieces by the archpriest and painter Onufri. The lower sections are dedicated to the founders of Christian monasticism. Two small scenes are painted on either side of the door: on the left, the apparition of the angel to Saint Pachomius the Great, considered the founder of Christian cenobitism in the ^4th century; on the right, the scene in which Saint Mary the Egyptian, a former prostitute who became a hermit in the^5th century, receives communion from the anchorite Zosimus of Palestine. On the upper sections, the west wall is decorated with the scene of the Communion of the Apostles. Above is a rare depiction of the Old Testament Trinity: the three angels who received Abraham's hospitality are seated before the calf that has just been killed for them. Note, on the left, the heifer lamenting her slaughtered calf: this is the symbol of Mary mourning the death of Christ. The upper sections of the side walls are decorated with the Passion cycle. Five scenes are partially preserved. On the north wall, Christ's death is evoked by the theme of the Anapeson: the adolescent Jesus asleep with his eyes open, with Mary at his side.

Miraculous icons. The wooden iconostasis dates from the ^18th century. It has no real artistic merit, and its two large icons are copies. But not just any copies. These are copies of the country's most famous icons, now on display at the Museum of North Macedonia in Skopje: Christ of Salvation and Eternal Life, painted by Metropolitan Jovan in 1394, and the Virgin Pelagonitissa ("of Pelagonia"), painted by his brother Makarije Zograf in 1422. Note their location. As a rule, the Virgin's icon is placed to the left of the royal doors. Here, however, the Pelagonitissa is on the right and Christ on the left. This is a Zrze tradition. According to legend, the two icons miraculously switched places one night. In the morning, the monks put them back in place, but the following night, the two sacred images were once again found inverted, as if the Virgin Mary insisted on looking in the direction of her son. Since then, the monks have never replaced the two icons (or their copies).

Orthodox Trinity. Behind the iconostasis, the sanctuary is reserved for the communion clergy. But you can still see some of Onufri's frescoes. The apse is adorned with an Orante, the traditional representation of the "praying" Mother of God(orans in Latin), standing with hands raised and outstretched. Nicknamed the "Virgin of the Sign", she symbolizes the arrival of Christ. In a medallion, she carries the rare Christ Emmanuel ("He who will come as Savior", usually depicted as an adolescent). Even more exceptional, however, is the "Christ with three faces" medallion on the vault above the Orante: a figure with three heads, youthful and beardless, representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This theme, which Onufri would later repeat in the churches of Kastoria (Greece) and Elbasan (Albania), was unprecedented in the ^16th century. It appeared in a context where some of the local clergy were under Catholic influence. This representation reaffirmed the Orthodox dogma that the Holy Spirit proceeds from God. Catholics, on the other hand, defend the idea of the Filioque ("and of the Son" in Latin), i.e. that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both God and Christ. This is the main point of theological divergence between Eastern and Western Christians.