Mountains set Prespa apart, enclosing its vast waters behind a gallery of stone. They’ve shaped the cultures of the shared lakes, from the spiritual seclusion of hermits in Ottoman times to pastoralism in the recent past. On the highest mountains – Kitsevo, Belavoda, Mali i Thate, and Pelister at 2,600 metres, snow holds fast until … Continue reading Prespa: A Journey from Home pt. 3
The Prespa lakes – Greater and Lesser – are amongst the oldest in Europe. Ancient lakes, enduring lakes, they are believed to be more than three million years old. At times, the larger resembles the sea, when veils of mist and cloud vanish the far shores. Or when sharp light stirs its surface - all … Continue reading Prespa : A Journey from Home pt. 2
“It is through the power of observation, the gifts of eye and ear, of tongue and nose and finger, that a place first rises up in our mind; afterward it is memory that carries the place, that allows it to grow in depth and complexity. For as long as our records go back, we have … Continue reading Prespa: A Journey from Home
For centuries men cloistered here, monastic, remote, alone. Men who’d shed some of the world as a way of contemplating its essence, stricter in their spiritual devotion to it. At the edge of this high mountain lake, they lived lives pared down to clear symmetry, in the way a piece of bone is carved slowly … Continue reading The Stone Coast
I’ve looked at the island from the first day we arrived here, set like a dark stone in a band of glittering blue water. It seems to float within reasonable reach, catching the eye with ease when you walk along the shore, but it’s remained steadfastly remote all that time. The island of Golem Grad … Continue reading To the Island
Julian Hoffman 