Place of retreat / Saint Naum / North Macedonia

08/07/2023

MARKUS:

Just a short stop on our road trip with Daniela.

It feels a bit strange to walk along souvenir stands and a beach promenade with bathers on the way to an Orthodox monastery from the 10th century(!).

Saint Naum itself is breathtaking! Even without a strong spiritual inclination, the interior of the monastery has a palpable power, so I actually have an inner monologue in a church for the first time in many years and thank myself for the privilege of being able to make this trip. On the way to the monastery, I notice that people keep stopping their cars by the roadside to pray or light candles at small chapels or statues of Mary, which are located on the side of the main roads. It is therefore not surprising that many visitors to the monastery lie flat on the ground in front of one of the holy pictures, pressing their cheek to the side, to pray, I suppose. However, it is unusual for Central Europeans to stroke money over holy pictures of saints and Mary, leave some of it as a donation, and then take the rest. Everyone tries to achieve material prosperity in their own way...

The rest of the surrounding park is quickly explored and mostly uninteresting, although we are very happy to come across a peacock here.