Maligrad Island Church

Maligrad is a small uninhabited limestone island in the Albanian part of Great Prespa, and on its cliff face is the church of Saint Mary, built into a natural cave in 1369 by a local ruler, with a barrel-vaulted chamber closed by a masonry front and wall paintings inside from the fourteenth century, including a donor portrait, that survive in reasonable condition despite the damp and the isolation. Getting there means hiring a boat at Liqenas or one of the shore villages, a crossing of twenty minutes or so, and then a scramble up rock to the entrance. The island also holds a colony of nesting birds and the cliffs are used by raptors. There is no infrastructure of any kind and the visit depends entirely on weather and on finding a boatman.

What you actually see

• A church built into a cave - masonry front closing a natural chamber.
• Fourteenth-century frescoes - wall paintings including a donor portrait.
• An uninhabited island - no buildings other than the church.
• Nesting birds on the cliffs - the colonies around the rock.

When to go

May to September, when boats run and the lake is calm. Half a day. Crossings depend on weather and boatmen are arranged informally at the shore. Mornings are calmest.

Honest expectations

Access is informal: there is no scheduled boat and you negotiate with a villager. The scramble to the church is on rock and can be slippery. The church is often locked. Trips are cancelled in wind and there is no alternative.

Nearby

Liqenas is on the shore; the Greek and North Macedonian borders are close.