Things to see and do Demir Hisar

Isolated at an altitude of 914 m, this beautiful Orthodox monastery (Слепченски Манастир/Slepčenski Manastir) enjoys a superb natural setting, beneath Mount Bigla (1,322 m). Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, it is said to have been founded in the^5th century and enjoyed a period of splendor in the ^9th century under the rule of St. Clement of Ohrid. Today, most of the buildings date from the ^16th century, and few of the old frescoes remain. But it's a good place for shopping: the monks produce and sell honey, cheese, cured meats, cider vinegar, jams and more.

This memorial-museum (Меморијален Музеј Смилево/Memorijalen Muzej Smilevo) was established in 2004 in a new, old-style building in Smilevo (population approx. 210), the village where Dame Gruev was born in 1871. Here, he was the founder of the Macedonian Internal Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) in 1893, took part in the Ilinden uprising in 1903 and was killed by the Ottomans in the Maleševo massif in eastern Macedonia in 1906. The museum houses a reconstruction of the hall where the founding congress was held in 1893, as well as traditional costumes from the region.