 Project description
The project called “Let’s Keep the Tradition of the Galicnik Wedding” established the bases for sustainable development of the Galicnik Wedding event and found renewable financing sources by applying and developing traditional crafts: the development of traditional costumes, musical instruments, and souvenirs; the setting up of a memorial room, and by using contemporary information tools such as the Internet, multimedia CDs, printed materials. A fund was established to finance the making of items traditionally used during the wedding ceremony. These items are sold during the Galicnik Wedding event- but also throughout the year.
Contact
Aco Lepceski, Association KAM, 070/219-259, lepce@hotmail.com
Location
Galicnik, municipality of Rostuse, western Macedonia
 About Galicnik
The village of Galicnik is part of the Rostuse municipality and of the Mavrovo national park. Galicnik is located at 1300-1600 metres above the sea level. It is situated at the foot of the rocky slopes of the Govedarnik top (2018 m). This is a typical Macedonian mountainous settlement with an overall setup of an amphitheatre, oriented towards east-southeast, with views of endless panoramas to the mountainous massifs of Krcin, Stogovo, the Radika river valley with the villages of Jance, Azievci, Prisojnica, Skudrinje, Bituse, Rostuse, Velebrdo, and Trebiste. In the Galicnik surroundings the villages are also located of Rosoki, Selce, Tresonce, Lazaropole, Mavrovo, Belicica, as well as the abandoned village of Susica. On the right and the upper sides of Galicnik, grey rocky areas rise of the Bistra Mountain and on the left side flow the springs of Genevica, bubbling in the canyon of Torteska Krasta, separating Galicnik from the grey beech forest. It is rightfully said that this all area, notably Galicnik and its mountainous landscape, represents one of the most beautiful and attractive parts of Macedonia and the Balkans.
How to reach Galicnik?
You can reach Galicnik from Skopje or from Ohrid (two options are available: the shorter one via Kicevo, and the longer but the more interesting one via Debar). If you travel from Skopje to Galicnik via Debar, you may arrive in an hour and 40 minutes (103 km). You can reach Galicnik from Ohrid via Debar by car in two hours (119 km). Once you pass the first part of the road to Mavrovo, you turn right and start the most interesting stage of the road, passable only 5-6 months during the year due to extremely high snowdrifts (some parts are located at as much as 1800 metres above the sea level).
 Where to stay overnight?
In Galicnik, you can have your overnight stay in the “Neda” hotel, built in traditional style. The nearby village of Mavrovo also offers accommodation facilities in various categories.
Local specifics
The local architecture and the very location of Galicnik are, in addition to the Galicnik Wedding event, one of the greatest specifics of this village. One should not miss local specialties offered at the “Neda” hotel and in a restaurant in the village including, among other things, the “bakrdan”, the Galicnik cheese, and the yogurt. While in Galicnik, you should also visit the museum of Gorgi Puleski
 What can you see in the surroundings?
In the nearby village of Mavrovi Anovi, the Bunec recreational centre is located (an especially attractive spot during winter); this part of the Bistra Mountain is famous as Vlainica. You can also visit the Mavrovo Lake and its dam. On the road between Mavrovo and Galicnik, the Mavrovo Orman is located, a thick deciduous forest including the “Aramisko Cesmice” and the site of Carevec. From the road you get a beautiful view of the Mavrovo Lake and of Korab (the highest mountain peak in Macedonia), the Sar Planina, and the Suva Gora; in April and May, the most impressive things here are the “snow tunnels” through which a road was made with great efforts. At the Tonivoda site, a large plateau exists that in winter sinks into white silence and, in summer, in the whiteness of white sheep flocks with spots here and there in the view of houses galloping by the several nearby small lakes; on the left side of the road, a diving spring comes out from one of the lakes and you lose its track in the rocks by the road. Further by the road, you may see the sheepfold called Smrdlivi Virovi, beautiful meadows, two picturesque waterfalls at the Obesena Voda site and many other nature landscapes. Do visit the impressive canyon of the Radika River, and the mountains of Bistra, Krcin, Korab, and Stogovo, as well as the settlements representing large cultural and historical monuments (Rostuse, Gari, Lazaropole, Tresonce, Bituse, the monastery of St. Jovan Bigorski …).
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