Matka Canyon

I continue the story of my journey through Northern Macedonia. In addition to the beautiful Lake Ohrid, there is another place worth visiting — Lake Matka, which was created man-made by a dam. The incredibly beautiful views make this place breathtaking.

The approach to the lake takes a certain amount of time — you need to find a free place down the river and move to the dam. This place is very popular with the locals — it is difficult to find a free place on weekends.

The current of the river is very stormy. In February, the snow in the lowlands has already melted, excess volume is being dumped from the dam.

The river is called Cod. It can be assumed that fishermen catch cod. But no. Trout. Cod is a marine fish.

The riverbank is flooded and it is impossible to walk along it to the lake itself — you have to climb onto the road and walk along the parked cars.

There is a dam ahead

The dam was built in 1938. They built it for centuries.

Climbing the dam, you can enjoy a stunning view of the lake. Beautiful rocks and a mirror image in the water.

Trails have been improved along the lake, some passages go through the rocks.

Canyon (Spanish cañón "pipe, gorge") is a deep river valley with very steep, often steep slopes and a narrow bottom, usually completely occupied by the riverbed, formed as a result of weathering and erosive activity of the river on a geochronological scale. In the gorge, unlike the canyon, the bottom is not completely occupied by the river, and part of the bottom is often occupied by forest. (Wikipedia)

The uterus is a real canyon, with an area of more than 5,000 hectares. It was not possible to get to the edge of the lake in an hour (you couldn't even see the end of it).

There is no coastline on the opposite side

But in some places there are equipped houses. You can get there by boat.

There are caves in the canyon. And there are ten of them. Bats can be found in them, and in some — stalactites.

St. Andrew's Monastery on the lake shore

There are several monasteries in the canyon area. One of them is located right on the shore of the lake. This is St. Andrew's Monastery, built in 1389.