Project’s description
Young people from Lesok needed space where they can get together and develop creative activities to mingle with other cultures and develop closer ties with their peers from other nationalities from the neighboring villages such as Albanian, Turkish etc. The idea for the project “Young People and Stories from Lesok and the Neighbouring Villages” was greeted by the local community, women’s organization, pensioners’ organization and the volleyball club from Lesok, as well as by the association “Lesok” from Skopje. Part of the premises of the community centre was made available to the Youth Creative Centre, where young people from different ethnic background can make friends and get to know each another’s cultural heritage and tradition. Lesok’s heritage shall be researched and publicized through its stories (legends, proverbs, customs, national dishes, folk songs etc.), and its material culture (old traditional costumes, books, documents, photographs).

Contact
Nikola Bozinovski, President of the neighbourhood unit Lesok
Village Lesok, municipality of Tearce
Tel. 044/ 383-005 (NU Lesok) 044/ 383-182 (home)
lesok@mt.net.mk
www.lesok.org.mk

Ivica Popovski, Youth Organization of the NU Lesok
Tel. 044/ 383-005 (NU Lesok); 044/ 381-867 (home); 075/ 534-579 (mobile)

Mladen Misajlovski, Association “Lesok”
Vasil Gorgiov Street, no. 2a, Skopje
Tel/fax: 02/ 3110-377; 02/ 3037-068 (home)
lesok@mt.net.mk
www.lesok.org.mk

Location
Village Lesok, municipality of Tearce, Tetovo region, Northwest Macedonia

About Lesok
Village Lesok is located in the Polog Valley, north from Tetovo. It is situated in the foothill of Mountain Sara, on an altitude of 450-550 meters above sea level.
Lesok was mentioned in the beginning of the Middle Ages as an urban settlement under the name of Legend City. There are many testimonies of its existence such as the archeological remains, the most prominent of which is Lesok Kale (Fortress).
Sport fans have the Sport and Recreation Centre - with volleyball, handball, basketball and football playgrounds and a place for entertaining children up to the age of ten.
The landscape around Lesok is magnificent, with ample vegetation, and dense chestnut, oak, beech, hazelnut, walnut, black locust forests. The rivers Lesok and Bistrica are abundant with trout.
One of the most famous monasteries – the Lesok Monastery - is located there. This monastery was the spiritual and educational centre of Polog. It has three churches: the most famous Saint Mary (18th century reconstructed by the learned Kiril Pejcinovik), Saint Atanasij, constructed in the 1930s and Ss. Cyril and Methodius, located within the monastery itself. Remains from destroyed churches can also be seen.

How to reach Lesok?
Lesok is only eight kilometres from Tetovo, and 50km from Skopje. You can reach Lesok by car or with the regular bus from Tetovo.

Where can one stay overnight?
Staying overnight in Lesok’s monastery inn is a special experience. There are 10 rooms with around 30 beds available. One can also stay overnight in the nearby village Varvara, in the accommodation facility that has 4 rooms with three-beds each. This village is only 3 kilometers from Lesok on Mountain Sara, and it has a magnificent view of Polog and the villages. The road leading to the village is paved with asphalt.

Local Particularities
Lesok and the neigbouring villages are famous for their cooking tradition – you must try the local sausages, Saraburger, Lesok backed beans, pastry “komat”, “turi-potpeci”, “secenica” and other local specialties. Order home-made rakia as aperitif, produced by the local inhabitants or by the Zlate Ristivski’s rakia factory located in the village. Try good quality wines with the main course, produced from the Lesok vineyards.

What Do the Surroundings Offer?
Not far from Lesok monastery, on the slopes of Mountain Sara, is the church Saint Atanasij, built in 1331 on the foundations of another church. This church had been destroyed several times, and the last reconstruction took place in the 1930s. The Lesok Kale (Fortress) is located just above the church, and there are numerous stories told from mouth to mouth, from one generation to another. These stories have never been written down.
Lesok Monastery was the place where one of the most famous Macedonian renaissance teachers – Kiril Pejcinovik, worked and created hid works. His tomb is located in the monastery compound, in the immediate vicinity of the church Saint Atanasij, while his famous epitaph is placed in the commemoration room within the monastery inn.
On the road to the village Varvara, you will bump into “Markov Kamen” (Marko’s Rock) – an isolated three meters high egg-shaped rock. Several legends are related to this famous rock.
In Tetovo, you must visit the churches: Ss. Cyril and Methodius, St. Nicolas and St. Friday, Arabati Baba as well as the Pied Mosque. The prominent Tetovo Fortress is just above the city, and from the city you can also reach the well known winter recreation centre “Popova Sapka”
Only two kilometers from Lesok, on the road to Tetovo, you will find the smallest ethnological museum in the world in the village Dzepciste. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit it!