Travel Guide Gari

Gari is a pretty hamlet with houses backing onto the slopes of Strogovo, one of the country's wildest mountain ranges. Between the 18th and 20th centuries, it was the main stronghold of the Mijaks, a Slavic and Orthodox community renowned for its craftsmen. The most famous of these, Petar Filipovski (1780-1854), was born here. His work includes the superb wooden iconostases of the St. John Bigorski Monastery and the Church of the Holy Savior in Skopje. Petar Filipovski, known as Garkata ("of Gari"), also left a small masterpiece in his native village, in the large church of the Dormition of the Mother of God. The church appears to have survived, given the small number of worshippers who use it today. Gari had a population of over 500 in the 1950s. They then left en masse for Skopje, Belgrade and the United States. But the church and the beautiful Strogovo landscape attract local tourists on sunny days. Hiking trails are difficult and poorly marked. But you can eat and sleep in the hamlet.