Paulo Coelho says that when a person really desires something, the whole universe conspires for that person to realize that dream. I guess that includes traveling. Through time and space. And when I travel through Prespa, it is three-dimensional: the present, the past and the future, all at the same time, and I follow my personal legend. And according to it I found out that God, amazed by his own masterpiece shed tears of joy. Two of them fell and rolled on the two sides of Mount Galichica, creating the Ohrid and Prespa Lakes. The eyes of Macedonia.
Prespa is an historical-geographical area, divided between Macedonia, Greece and Albania. Geographically, the term Prespa means a great valley, with the two Prespa lakes – Big and Small, set in its center. From the north, the valley is surrounded by Mount Bigla; from the west – by Mount Galichica; from the south – by Suva Gora; and from the east by Mount Baba. The northern side of the area is located in Macedonia and is known as Upper Prespa, covering most of the territory of the municipality of Resen. The southern side, called Lower Prespa is divided into Small Prespa, covering the Albanian municipality of Pustec, and Big Prespa, covering the Greek municipality of Prespa and the southern part of Resen with the villages Dolno Dupeni, Nakolec, Brajchino, Ljubojno, Shtrbovo, Krani, Slivnica, Pretor, Kurbinovo, Asamati, Rajca and Grnchari.
The Prespa valley is surrounded by high mountains from all sides: east is Mount Baba with its top Pelister (2601 m); north is Mount Bigla (1933 m); west is Galichica (2255 m); and south is Gorbech (1750 m). The valley is divided between three countries, the largest part belonging to Macedonia, and the other to Greece and Albania. There are two lakes in the valley: the Big and the Small Prespa Lakes. The border between Macedonia, Greece and Albania is in the Big Prespa Lake.
The region is divided in three because of Macedonia's division after the two Balkan wars and WWI. Prespa has an important geo-strategic position. The famous 'Via Egnatia' path passed through Prespa. Along the road, several settlements and stations were built. One of those stations was Skiritania where the settlement of Resen was built later. Through Prespa passed the 'Via Epirica' road and the Kastoria Road. During the 6th and the 7th century Prespa is inhabited by Slavic tribes from the tribal union of Bereziti – Brsjaci.
During the reigns of Samoil, Gavrilo Radomir and Jovan Vladislav in the 10th and 11th centuries, the town of Prespa, capital of the first medieval Macedonian country, is mentioned, right along the Prespa Lake. This is where the first state of the Macedonian Slavs was founded, under the leadership of Prince Nikola’s sons: David, Aron, Mojsej and Samoil. Samuel, the youngest son, was declared a king. He successfully ruled the first Macedonian country. Samoil's kingdom stretched from Macedonia and Bulgaria east; Thessaly, Epirus and Albania west; to Duklja, Rashka, Srem and Bosnia north. He ruled from 976 to 1014, when he was defeated by the Byzantine king Basil II in the battle of Belasica. The eyes of 14.000 soldiers were removed, with every 100th left with one eye. Samoil waited for them in Prespa, and devastated, died on 6th October 1014. The country prevailed until 1018.
Prespa is a piece of earth on heaven and a piece of heaven on earth. I have several facts about that. The tired Almighty Creator was looking for a place to rest, to sleep a bit on his own land. He found and slept ('prespal' in Macedonian). After the people found that place, they called it Prespa.
And Resen, Prespa's window, rhymes with autumn (the Macedonian word is 'esen'). And it seems, not by chance. Autumn is the time to visit Resen. When the summer is over, the red and yellow apples shine in the Prespa field like the bloated breasts of a young woman. Whenever I think of Prespa and Resen, I feel the smell of autumn, the smell of the most beautiful apples in Prespa's Garden of Eden.
The great emperor Samoil had two capitals: Ohrid and Prespa. It is even thought that there was a settlement called Prespa at the time. It was in one of his capitals, Prespa or Ohrid, that he was crowned by Pope's priests in 969.
The oldest monument written in Slavic language was the tombstone of Samoil's parents dating back to 933 which was found in Prespa. Greek scientists claim to have found Samoil’s bones on the island of Achim. It is known that the only island in Macedonia – The Big Fortress, is located in the Prespa Lake. Scientists believe some of the discovered ancient buildings to be part of Samoil's residence. His bones, however, according to latest sciences, were found on the smaller Prespa island – Achim, today a part of Greece.
I have been to Resen several times, with relatives, friends, sometimes even alone. I would take the bus and go to Resen, and then to Pretor. Was the first Macedonian throne located in Pretor? It is believed, however, that the first headquarters of the Macedonian Autocephalous Church was in Prespa.
To me, travelling through Prespa is like travelling through history. Whole civilizations and people are moving in front of me. Via Egnatia, the link between the western and the eastern Roman empires was going through Prespa. According to some date there was a Roman army settlement at the time here, called Spirifiana.
The Prespa valley has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The pile settlements, today under water, are a proof of that.
Prespa is also the place where the European renaissance was born. It starts from the 'Saint George' monastery in Kurbinovo, built in 1191, during a Byzantine period, the sign found near the church a testimony for that. It was built from broken rocks, and according to the form and dimensions it was a one-isled church, 7 x 11 m, with 1 meter thick walls. It is a pearl of the medieval fresco painting in Macedonia because of the amazingly well-preserved painting on its walls.
The frescos in Kurbinovo are livelier and more refined, compared to frescos in other churches from the same period. Several painters worked on the painted, but it most probable that the head master gave its special tone. It is assumed that he collaborated with the painters in Nerezi. The Annunciation and Jesus Christ on the southern wall, and the other frescos, are considered among the most beautiful creations of the medieval painting in Macedonia.
The whole painting is divided into three zones. The middle part represents Jesus's path from his Birth to his Resurrection, the upper part is the Old Testament and the lower part is the New Testament. The color of the frescos is from terracotta, a type of clay with mixtures of different plants. The most vivid frescos are The Ascension, The Birth of Christ, The Baptism of Christ, etc.
The church of Saint Peter from the 14th century is located on the Big Fortress Island, while the church of Saint Ilija is in the village of Grnchari.
And there I am again somewhere in the past. Prespa was destroyed after the Ilinden uprising. The village of Podmochani suffered the most. On 4th December 1903, all of the 101 houses in the village were burned, as well as the school. Many were killed, even children at the age of two, three and four. Time and events passed, even God himself passed from here, but the great water stayed; the water of one of the most beautiful tectonic lakes on the Balkan, which spread and shrank with time. The lake has a surface of 274 km2, 186.8 of which belong to Macedonia, 49.4 to Albania and 47.8 to Greece. It is 28.6 km long, 16.9 km wide and 54 meters deep. Its altitude is 853 meters, which is higher than Ohrid Lake. It is said that the water from Prespa Lake, through the river of Drim, fills the Ohrid Lake. If you pour ink in the Prespa waters, it will show up after a while in the springs of Saint Naum. There is another saying, that when the Prespa water level drops, the springs from the other side of Galichica run dry, and the other way round. Few years ago, the water level in Prespa drastically dropped. It was a worrying trend. Data showed that the amount of water lost from Prespa was the same as ten Dojran Lakes. There were all kinds of ideas and thoughts on how to save the lake. That is how I went to Prespa, and there I was, in Oteshevo, in front of the lake that ran away.
An old man from the village of Perovo told me: "The lake has its cycles. It runs away inwards for fifty years, and then returns for five-six decades. It doesn't need help from the people. A man can only make things worse."
Folge uns