Monastery of St. John Bigorski

One day excursion, traveling with bus, departure from hotel after breakfast

The Monastery Complex of St. John Bigorski is nestled in exceptionally picturesque environment, in the valley of the River Radika, in the proximity of Debar Lake. The Complex was built in the year 1021, where as the monastery church dedicated to the decapitation of St. John The Baptist (also known as the Precursor) was erected in the year 1800. The church was icon-painted in the course of the eighteenth century by unknown icon painters from Korcha. The Monastery of St. John Bigorski has rich icon painting which was painted in the period from the sixteennt until the twentieth century. According to the beliefs of the monks from the previous century, the monastery was erected by the monk Jovan, who was the last Head of Ohrid Church in Samuel’s Empire, on the spot where according to the legend the miraculous icon of St. John the Baptist emerged. It is believed that in the period from the fourteenth until the nineteenth  century the monastery, which had a scriptorium and a library, was one of the most significant spiritual centers in Macedonia.