Извори Свети Наум

Izvori Sveti Naum

Useful Information

Location:	Shkupi 1000. At Highway P501 along the Lake, 300 m from the border to Albania. (40.9130948, 20.7415581)
Open:	no restrictions. [2024]
Fee:	free. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Spring
Light:	n/a
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Izvori Sveti Naum, Tel: +389-.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

905	monastery founded by Saint Naum.

Description

The Извори Свети Наум or Izvori Sveti Naum (Saint Naum Springs) is a set of springs which are named after Свети Наум (Saint Naum). Naum Ohridski aka Naum Preslawski lived at the end of the 9th century. Together with others, who are also local Saints, he developed the written Macedonian using kyrillic letters, a liturgy for the service in the local language instead of Latin, and founded numerous churches and monasteries. The monastery here at the southern shore of Lake Ohrid was founded by him in 905. It was named after him, and he is buried in the church of the monastery. There is no explanation why he founded the monastery right here, but the spring were probably the main reason. They provided fresh water for drinking and irrigation.

There is a huge car park at the lake, the road then crosses a bridge to reach the monastery with its small harbour. There are boat tours across the lake to the monastery from Ohrid city. The tributary which is formed by a series of karst springs is about 750 m long. The first spring is located close to the monastery, right at the road below the chapel Св. Петка (St. Parascheva). From here a trail starts along the western shore of the tributary to the chapel Света Богородица or Sveta Bogorodica (Holy Mother of God). It sits on another spring. There are numerous other springs, some in the middle of the river, like the Изворите на Црн Дрим or Izvorite na Crn Drim (Spring of the Black Dream). It’s possible to walk around the whole spring area to the Church of Saint Athanasius and then back to the car park. The short hike is less than two kilometers long and takes about half an hour.

The Lake Ohrid area, including St Naum, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in North Macedonia. However, most visitors come here for the architecture, religious reasons, or simply because it’s a stop on the boat trip. The hydrological importance of this site is obviously not well known. This is one of three massive karst spring on the southern shores of Lake Ohrid, where the water from Lake Prespa reappears. The other two springs are on the Albanian side of the border though. Also, there are numerous springs underwater in the lake which are not visible, and numerous other small springs all around.