What you’re seeing here is a) the source in both its liquid and vapor forms, and b) the village of Trpejca as seen from about 300 meters higher up along the slops of Mt Magaro. We stayed along the little road that cuts down the left side of the steep lower hill that Trpjeca straddles. If the resolution were stronger, I’d identify our rooftop for you b/c it’s certainly visible in the frame :-). Below, more of the area and also some of the source in its solid, snowy state.
In case you’re keeping track, what you’re seeing above is 2200-meter high Mt Magaro, in this case as seen from the northeast on a 1987-meter prominence that I hiked up to early last week. We showed you this mountain in our first post from Macedonia, nearly three weeks ago. Here, we show you more of the lovely mountainous terrain between and around Magaro, Lake Ohrid (top right corner here, with probably a bit of Albania visible in the distance) and Lake Prespa (top left corner here, with probably bits of both Albania and Greece showing up, since all three countries share Prespa), where Steve and I spent a glorious day exploring, last week.
This is where the underground springs noted in a prior post emerge to feed the short streams carrying water from Lake Prespa into Lake Ohrid, here at its southern end.
Just on the Macedonian side of the border with Albania lies the beloved monastery and church of St Naum. The island just above (with restaurant, far side of the bridge) sits where streams fed by natural springs which flow downhill from Lake Prespa, south and east of Lake Ohrid and higher in the mountains, flow into Lake Ohrid. These springs are remarkably clear and beautiful, running a short distance south (“inland,” as it were) to where they emerge from underground at a location where there’s another lovely little church which we’ll show in a future post. For now, views of the streams fed by the springs, and the two islands that sit at the south end. It’s all fairly protected as part of Gallicica National Park, as I understand.
As regular readers know, I’ve lived for nearly five years now in a location quite devoid of mountains. So I’ll hope you understand in the delight I feel each time I walk out the door here in Trpejca and see this, our local 2200-meter mountain framing the horizon :-). In the gallery below, I’ve also included a shot of the village as seen from the water, with mountain backdrop. We’re staying to the right, out of the frame of that photo.
This hilltop fortress in Ohrid is named after Tsar Samuel, who ruled a large empire in constant tension with the Byzantine empire over borders and so on. He was reputed to be invincible and quite cruel, and reigned from 997 to 1014, during which time he moved his capital to Ohrid from Skopje.
On Monday, Steve and I saw these lovely snapdragons growing in (the town of) Ohrid’s ancient amphitheater. When the Romans gained control of this region – so the sign tells us – they remodeled the amphitheater for gladiatorial and big-animal spectacles, instead of the classical dramas one assumes were mainstays during the Hellenistic period.
(so much world, so little time....) 