Despite its former glory, Treskavec Monastery is currently run by a single monk © Michal Szymanski, Shutterstock
This remote monastery is a magnificent old complex of significant historical and cultural value that is in urgent need of renovation.
Some 8km outside Prilep under the summit of the impressive Zlatovrv, this remote monastery is a magnificent old complex of significant historical and cultural value that is in urgent need of renovation. The site is of such worth that it made the World Monument Fund’s 2006 top 100 most endangered sites. In addition to the value of the site itself, its remote setting is beautiful and earned itself a central role in Mančevski’s film Before the Rain.
The monastery is built on the ancient town of Kolobaise, which existed from the 3rd century BC until the 7th century AD and whose name is written in a long inscription cut into a stone used as the base of the cross on top of the central dome of the church. There are also other inscriptions around the church that date back to the 1st century BC, when a temple to Apollo and Artemis was first built on this site.