Things to see and do Dojran

This small peak is now locally called Голема Круна/Golema Kruna. This is the simple translation of "Grand Couronne". Because here, between Greece and North Macedonia, the hills of Karabalija overlooking Lake Dorjan, in the west, have names that are neither Greek nor Slavic: the Turtle, the Small Crowned, Pip Ridge, the Twins ... These are the nicknames given during the First World War by French and British soldiers to the positions held by the Bulgarians. So many places that the allied troops tried to conquer during three years. Three years of offensives, bombings and hand-to-hand combat. Between 1915 and 1918, Dorjan was the "Verdun of the Macedonian front". And its fort of Douaumont was the Grand Couronne, the main observation post of the Bulgarian artillery. Officially called Kale Tepe ("the hill of the castle" in Turkish), and also known as the Devil's Eye in English, the Grand Couronne is only 612 m high. But it is hard to reach, especially in the heat.

Bunkers and rusty casings. From Star Dojran, a path accessible by 4 x 4 and today used by the border guards allows to reach the half-slope. Then you have to walk through the rocky terrain, make your way through the brush to reach Dovdželii. During the conflict, this village located in the no man's land between the two sides was continuously bombed. Only ruins remain. Further on is the deadly Twin Ravine, then the Bulgarian first and second lines, whose trenches are still visible. Only a few isolated Allied units managed to reach the top of the ravine, sometimes with losses of more than 70 percent of their strength. The slopes up to the summit proved even more difficult to climb. The hill is littered with bunkers and dugouts, some of which are well preserved, while the ground is littered with shell casings and projectiles gnawed by rust. The place is surmounted by a blockhouse that offers a breathtaking view of the lake around which the troops climbing the hills were concentrated. The Bulgarians had no trouble anticipating the Allied attacks... until September 19, 1918. On that day, the Welsh of the South Wales Borderers finally managed to seize the Grand Couronne. Only 18 soldiers and one officer were left when the battalion took the position. Despite a fierce defense, the Bulgarians were overwhelmed. Ten days later, Skopje was conquered by surprise by the French and Bulgaria capitulated.

This 43 ^km2 lake (Дојранско Езеро/Dojransko Ezero, Λίμνη Δοϊράνη/Limani Doïrani) is shared between Northern Macedonia (27 ^km2) and Greece. Oval in shape, it extends 8.9 km in length from north to south and 7.1 km in maximum width. Much smaller than the Ohrid and Prespa lakes, it is nonetheless the third-largest natural lake in Northern Macedonia. Almost dried out by human error in 1988, Lake Dojran has now been restored to its original level, with an average depth of 10m. It is protected due to the presence of numerous birds, including the occasional rare curly pelican. To the east and south, the banks on the Greek side are mostly marshland. On the Macedonian side, to the west and north, you'll find the village of Dojran and several stretches of sand on the west coast, as well as Mrdaja beach to the south and Nikolić beach to the north. Swimming, however, is complicated by the proliferation of invasive plants. As for fishing, it is now done with nets or lines and not, as in the past, with the forced complicity of aquatic birds. This technique, known as piliktanik, has made the lake famous. For centuries, great crested grebes and pygmy cormorants were used as "flappers" to direct fish into reed traps and prevent them from escaping. Despite this, the large white flat-bottomed boats and stilt huts are still an integral part of the landscape, with the beautiful Bélès massif dominating to the north.

Recently restored, this 10-meter-high tower (Саат Kула) was erected in the ^14th century, in the early Ottoman era, to indicate prayer times to Muslim inhabitants. It was part of a large Turkish neighborhood that rose on the heights of Dojran, around a sharia (commercial and religious complex). Almost all this complex was destroyed in 1913, during the fighting between Greeks and Bulgarians in the Second Balkan War. Nearby are the old Turkish baths.

Closed during our last visit, this municipal museum established in 2000 (Езерски Mузеј на Дојран) presents the flora and fauna of the lake as well as the old technique of fishing with cormorants. Opposite, along Maršal-Tito Street, an information center, meanwhile, operates in summer. Otherwise, the National Museum of Natural History of Skopje has, since 2017, a branch on the heights, next to the clock tower. Here again, we found the door closed. Finally, in the Greek village of Doïrani, another museum dedicated to the lake was also closed.

This triple-naved Orthodox church (Црква Свети Илија) is one of the only buildings in Dojran to survive the wars of the early ^20th century. Built by the Bulgarians in 1848, it was ravaged by fire in 1916, hit by artillery ... Bulgarian. Left without a roof for a century, it was restored and reopened for worship in 2020 with a completely white interior for the moment. A little higher up, the Greek church of Saint George (1911) remains in a state of ruin.