Lesnovo Monastery

Lesnovo monastery sits on the rim of an extinct volcanic crater in the northeast, its church built in 1341 by a nobleman of the Serbian empire, with frescoes of the same period covering the interior and a narthex added shortly after. The iconostasis is a nineteenth-century carving by the Mijak workshops. The monastery was a centre of manuscript copying, and Lesnovo produced significant medieval Slavonic texts. The Lesnovo scriptorium was one of the more productive in the medieval Balkans, and several of the manuscripts written here survive in collections abroad rather than at the monastery.

What you actually see

• The 1341 church - the fourteenth-century building and its frescoes.
• The narthex paintings - the later cycle in the added western chamber.
• The carved iconostasis - the nineteenth-century Mijak woodwork.
• The crater setting - the monastery on the rim of an extinct volcano.

When to go

April to October is the season for the road. The monastery is open daily outside services. Winter access can be difficult.

Honest expectations

The road up is narrow and winding. Frescoes are dim and photography is usually prohibited. The site is remote from the main routes.

Nearby

Kratovo is north, and Osogovo is east.