Bigorski Monastery St John the Baptist in Puke

Truly one of the most beautiful monasteries that we have visited anywhere. The icons are stunning.

A money factory as all monasteries, but the view from this vantage point is amazing.Surrounded by muslim villages, is a real tolerance heaven with mutual respect toward each others faith.Interesting to know when the monastery burned down several years ago, the muslim villagers helped to fight the fire and also donated money to restaurate the monastery. Respect!

1000 years of prayer and worship... There are no words that can describe the beauty, the peace, the feeling...

One of the best monastery in Europe, must see it, the nature around it, has it own story

Fancy visiting a well kept but apparently deserted medieval monastery at the end of a steep 5km road into forested hills in the middle of nowhere? This is the destination for you.

When you visit Macedonia and you want to have a tour this is place MUST be seen and visited. The monastery is located in a beautiful surrounding of mountains and its very quiet and peaceful. There are also rooms to rent to relax and clear your mind.

Peace on the earth!

Not bad, but wouldnt call it a must. Heavily commercialised by monks.

The Monastrey of St. Jovan Bigorski is excellent place to visit. Its established back in 1020. Also there is a building where you can rent room and stay. If you want to learn more about the place, culture and Orthodox life, I recommend visiting the place, and ask a monk to explain about Christianity and Orthodox and about the church and monastery. Monks are very quiet, nice people that live there, and they will be happy to speak with you. Ive been several times, and Im always amazed.

Wonderful place. Absolutely worth a visit. Unique iconostasis designs.

I highly recommend to add this as a must do on your list of going to Macedonia.It is a gorgeous monastery. Well maintained. And beautifully reflects God and his presence.

The Monastery of Sveti Jovan Bigorski / Saint John the Baptist - Bigorski is one of the most valuable perls of Macedonian Orthodox Church. It is located in the western part of North Macedonia, by the road from Mavrovo to Debar. The monastery church belongs to the oldest preserved churches in Macedonia, built in 1020. The Ottomans destroyed the monastery in the 16th century. It was restored in 1743 by the monk Ilarion, who also constructed a number of cells for monks. The monastery was further expanded between 1812 and 1825 by the archimandrite Arsenius and later by monk Iov, recognized by some researchers as educator Yoakim Krchovski.This monastery church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist - Bigorski. One of its most valuable treasures is the iconostasis, created by Petre Filipov - Garkata, master wood carver artist from the nearby village of Gari. The Bigorski iconostasis is considered to be one of the finest examples of wood-carved iconostasis worldwide. Another valuable monastery treasure is an icon dating from 1020 with supposedly miraculous healing power. The monastery has a large collection of holy relics including John the Baptist, Clement of Ohrid, Lazarus of Bethany, Saint Stephen, Saint Nicholas, Saint Barbara, Paraskevi of Rome, Tryphon, Respicius, Nympha and part of the Holy Cross.There was a tragedy in 2009 when part of the monastery was destroyed in fire. The destroyed cultural heritage was reconstructed as close to the original as possible. First photos in this review are taken before the fire and contain authentic artefacts and buildings.

Interesting spot tight on the road, work a 30 minutes visit. Great restaurant nearby.

Beautiful monastery with a wonderful calming spirit. Nature and silence that you can enjoy for days

Peaceful and amazing place

A place where you forget everything, a place where your soul and thoughts are cleansed.Beauty that cannot be described in words, with silence weaves a web of beauty that fills your heart, eyes and soul.That is just a small description of the Bigor monastery surrounded by magnificent beauty.

Beautiful monastry. And there is a fountain with fresh water.

A monestary in Matka park. Worth visiting. We met a nice young monach who was open to all our questions.

Spiritual paradise. A place that every believer, good intention man and tourist should visit......The monastery church is dedicated to St. John the Baptist. One of its most valuable treasures is the iconostasis, created by Petre Filipovski - Garkata[1] from the nearby village of Gari, and considered one of the finest examples of wood-carved iconostases. ( from Wikipedia)

Beautiful monastery, gorgeous architectural design and history.

Amazing place, easy to find inner peace.

Breathtaking, peaceful and just amazing place on this planet earth.

Starting feom the below restaurant on the road, you can appreciate the high level of detail attention.The monastery is besutifully preserved and taken care of. Thare are also room in the nearby building to stay overnight.It is an ethnical expreience

Serenity, thats the word. Really peaceful place with a stunning view

Beautiful place, location and friendly people.

Orthodox Church-temple with beautiful view, and unique wooden crafting

Beautyfull Monastyr aftter renovation. Big courtyard inside with many springs. You can wizyt glamorous, leaking with gold orthodox chappel and light candles for some intencions. Nice restaurant beneath the Monastyr

All i can say that the location of this monastery is quite unique.Its up to mountains so i wish,I had time to live there for a while.Btw,our guide monk trainee Angel was so nice.I have felt ashamed to steal from lunch and coffee time.I love every pieces of this monastery.Recommended to everyone

Very beautiful place, recommended for visiting

One of the most beautiful monastery in Macedonia

Beautiful place with amazing view ✨

Beautiful place to visit in natural. Good for summer and winter visits

Wonderful Monastery, great place to visit.

St. John the Baptist is one of the beautifulest monasteries in Macedonia. Monastery is surrounded by untouched nature - this place gives incredible energy and such a calmness, that no other place have.

One of the most beautiful monastery in Macedonia. Spiritual and calm place with amazing architecture. A place you must visit in Macedonia

The place that oozes with piety, calmness and beauty. It’s meticulously restored and surrounded by 2000m high snow-capped peaks.

Such a peacefully beautiful place.Would have loved to stay for a night as a spiritual retreat. The mountain views in the background are time stopping.It rained lightly during our visit and it made the experience even more magical :)The monks are very welcoming and dont mind having their photos taken.Women in trousers are given a shall to wrap around themselves as skirts.There are toilets inside and a small souvenir shop.P.S. Apparently we were lucky to have choosen a small minibus group as the larger groups in large buses have to walk most of the road up as the big buses cannot turn the tight turns.

Small but really nice monastère, you can go up with a car easily

Calm, spiritual place, and a great representation of the macedonian traditional architecture and art of the XIX century.

I was very impressed with this Monastery. It was very peaceful, and had some very beautiful views. One of the many breathtaking sites in Macedonia you can find. I also met this cute little guy at the monastery as well.

The view is mesmerising and magical.I highly recommend anyone that comes to visit Macedonia to visit this place as well :)

Beautiful orthodox monastery. Such a holy place with an amazing history! Beautiful icons all over and carvings in wood that youll never see like them. Worth the visit if you ever come to Macedonia.

Sacret and peaceful, this is the place where you can find spiritual peace

While it is a great touristic attraction, the monastery of St. John the Forerunner is primarily a place for worship. Its kind of impossible to describe in words the mysticism, beauty and grace of services that take place every day. The brothers are very welcoming and eager to help everyone in the need of help without prejudices and judging. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for peace of their mind.

According to the Bigorsky monastery, the monastery was founded by the monk John in 1020, and in the 16th century the monastery was destroyed by the Ottoman authorities and from the whole complex remained only as a small church. It is also learned that the monastery was restored in 1743 by Hieromonk Hilarion, who was also the first abbot of the Bigorski Monastery in recent times.

A must see in Macedonia. Avoid the weekends, there are too many people.Enjoy the tea offered by the monks.A must see

Beautiful place in a spectacular location. They invited us to drink a coffee in a beautiful room, what a great surprise!

We stopped here on the way from Ohrid to Skopje. The views around the Monastery are beautiful. The buildings and especially the interiors are also very beautiful. See the carved screen with the intricate detail, down to the faces.

It definitely is a detour if your intent is only to come to this place, but the the national park surrounding it is beautiful and it deserves some attention to. Its really well treated and in use. Go for lunch im the restaurant in the beginning of the climb.

A muezzin was calling for pray from the neighboring village when we arrive. In the same time monks started to sing in the monastery, it was amazing.The complex is huge and some part is newly rebuilt (after the fire), the church is really nice, the wood carving (from one single woodis amazing, the frescos and the ikons are interesting. The monks are happy to tell the history of the monastery (back to AC 1020).