Things to see and do Veles

This artificial lake (Езеро Младост/Ezero Mladost), whose name means "youth," covers 5.2 ^km2. It was created in 1962 on the Otovica River to power a small power plant and irrigate the surrounding agricultural land. Today it is a popular resort for the inhabitants of the Veles region. There are beaches, several bars, restaurants and hotels, a lighthouse tower and even a small winery (on the eastern shore). The lake is 1.5 km long, 500 m wide and 25 m deep.

This Orthodox monastery of Serbian origin (Манастирот Свети Димитрија/Manastirot Sveti Dimitrija) houses a beautiful ^13th-century church. This one is distinguished by its Byzantine architecture (cloisonné apparatus, beautiful brick patterns), but also by its bell tower added in the ^18th century on the narthex. In 2017, during a restoration, a fresco of the Last Judgment and another representing the founder - not identified - of the church were rediscovered under a layer of plaster.

Built between 1976 and 1979, this beautiful white monument (Спомен Костурница/Spomen Kosturnica) houses the remains of 87 Veles partisans who died during World War II, including that of the poet Kočo Racin, who was killed under murky circumstances in 1943. Designed by Serbian sculptor Ljubomir Denković (b. 1936), the dome of the ossuary (10 m high and 15 m wide) evokes a German soldier's helmet from the ^Third Reich broken into four. Inside is the largest mosaic in the country (220^m2), the work of Macedonian painter Petar Mazev (1927-1993).

Housed in an elegant early ^20th-century building, this museum founded in 1946 (Народен Mузеј/Naroden Muzej) houses collections of archaeology, history, ethnology and art history: beautiful costumes from Povardarie, traditional house interiors, objects from the ancient site of Stobi... Of particular interest are the finds from the Neolithic sites of Čaška and Kartalica: figurines, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, amulets and a very rare globular flute. The latter dates from 4000-5000 BC and belonged to the Anzabegovo-Vršnik culture.

Overlooking the old town since 1840, this three-aisled basilica (Црквата Свети Пантелејмон/Crkvata Sveti Pantelejmon) is the seat of the Macedonian Orthodox diocese of Povadaria. Thanks to its incredible acoustics, due to clay pots filling the space between double walls, it is nicknamed the "Scala de Veles". It was designed by Andreja Damjanov (1813-1878), a native of the region and considered one of the most important Balkan architects of the ^19th century. He was also responsible for the Osogovo monastery near Kriva Palanka, among others.

This beautiful late ^19th-century corbelled house (Спомен-Куќа на Кочо Рацин) is the birthplace of the poet Kočo Racin (1908-1943). Considered the father of Macedonian literature, yet he spent part of his childhood working here, in his father's pottery workshop, now reconstructed. Other beautiful houses of figures of the city are preserved in the same neighborhood: houses Kasapovi, Glavinov, Konstantinov... Other historical buildings are visible on the left bank: houses Paunovi, Trenčovi..