Prespa Lake

The two Prespa Lakes – Golema (Great) and Mala (Small) are the only ones on the Balkan Peninsula to have islands. The five- Golum Grad, Mala Grad, Pirg, Agios Achillaeos and Vidrinec- are located in the three countries that share the lakes today, Macedonia, Albania and Greece. With its irregular coastline, plethora of bays, extraordinary cleanliness of water, pristine nature, and setting between three national parks, Prespa is truly a place one must visit.

With a surface area of 273 sq. km, Great Prespa Lake is the second largest in Macedonia after Ohrid. Between the two lies the Galicica Mountain, through which flows an underground stream named Zavir.

Through it, Lake Prespa supplies Lake Ohrid with water that comes out on the other side near the monastery of St. Naum and in the Biljana spring near Ohrid town.

The Prespa region is ecologically speaking the cleanest part of Macedonia, its nature seemingly untouched by human hands. The white pelican, black raven, heron and gull all congregate near the lake so abundant with fish, which include varieties such as trout, carp, red finned carp, chub, barbell, and others.

While the unpopulated island of Golem Grad is a protected nature reserve, it is also accessible to tourists. The island is characterized by its century-old juniper trees, as well as the abundance of endemic animal life. When the level of the water falls, old settlements from the 11th and 12th centuries become visible.