"Matka" a Matka Travel Page by Pijlmans

Lake Matka is an artificial lake close to Skopje. The lake was created by putting a dam in to the river Treska.

You can reach Lake Matka with bus 60 or bus 2 from Skopje, follow the link for more information. In my Traveloques you can also read how to reach Lake Matka from the last stop of bus 12.

There are several churches and monasteries around the lake:

Monastery of St Nikola Shishevski
Monastery of St Bogorodica
Church of St Spas
Ruins of St Nedela
Monastery of St Andrea

See the map of Lake Matka for their locations.

The churches of St Nikola, St Spas and St Nedela can only be reached by short (1-3 hours) but steep hikes. In my Travelogues you find descriptions of the hike to the Monastery of St Nikola on one site of the lake, and a hike to the other churches on the other side of Lake Matka.

In addition, there are several more hiking trails around the lake, as well as a course for kayaking.

Other artificial lakes in Macedonia can be found in Mavrovo National Park and near Debar.