Travel Guide Kratovo

Tucked away in a narrow valley of the Osogovo River, 600 m above sea level, this little town isn't called Kratovo for nothing: it's located in the crater of an extinct volcano. But it owes its reputation above all to its architectural heritage: around the beautiful Kratovska River, the town center boasts a dozen medieval defensive towers, four Ottoman bridges and many beautiful 19th-century houses. Behind this picture-postcard backdrop, however, all is not rosy. Kratovo is depopulating, its old buildings are falling into ruin and the gold, copper and silver mines that have made it rich since Antiquity are tending to run out. Although tourism is still struggling to develop - there is only one real hotel and a handful of guesthouses - the potential is there, with plenty of hiking opportunities and two beautiful sites nearby: the strange "stone dolls" of Kulkica (pronounced "kouklitsa") and the superb Lesnovo monastery, also nestled in an Osogovo volcano crater.