In the eastern part of Mavrovo and Rostuse municipality, there is the Mavrovo region – a great summer & winter resort, known for the ski resort, mountaing bike, hiking, the Mavrovo lake & the National park as well.

This region is named Mavrovo because most of the people live in the village of Mavrovo and most of the notable families were also from Mavrovo. Some of the villages and smaller hamlets include: Mavrovo Nikiforovo Leunovo Mavrovi Anovi (Inns of Mavrovo)

According to the 2002 census, these four villages in the Mavrovo region had a population of 349 people; Mavrovo – 166; Mavrovi Anovi – 167; Nikiforovo – 10 and Leunovo 6 inhabitants.

The Mavrovo region & the ski resort are easily accessed, by car or bus. The E-65 international motorway (Gostivar – Kicevo), passes near the Mavrovo region and the local roads connects the villages and settlements. Nearby Gostivar is 32 km, while Skopje is just 95 km away (approx. 1 hour by driving).

Mavrovo tourism destination

The Mavrovo region is major ski, tourist and recreational resort & destination in Macedonia. The Mavrovo region lies within the borders of the Mavrovo National Park. The exquisite location, (Bistra mountain and the Mavrovo Reservoir) & Mavrovo hotels helped the Mavrovo region to grow into a big tourist resort throughout the whole year.

The Mavrovo ski resort is well known and named Zare Lazarevski in honor of its founder. It has two double lift chairs, one single lift chair with over 1,100 person capacity per hour, several ski lifts with synchronized connection and over 5,000 person capacity per hour. The ski center was renovated recently, so the capacity of the ski lifts and the ski chairs is increased. The ski trails start at 1,960 meters and end at 1,250 meters above sea level.

Climate & when to come in Mavrovo

The Mavrovo region experiences a mountainous climate, with mild summers and extremely cold winters with a temperatures as low as -25 °C. The resort of Mavrovo is located on the Bistra mountain, in an ecologically clean district. In spite of that, the region has a relatively strong winter comparing to the rest of Macedonia and it is often visited by tourists from Albania, Kosovo and Greece. All the seasons are definitely pleasant season for visits. The nature of Bistra is simply – wonderful.

Mavrovo tourist attractions

• MAVROVO LAKE The Mavrovo lake is settled in the Mavrovo valley, between the Bistra, Šar and Vlainica mountain. The Mavrovo lake lies of an attitude of 1,233 meters above the sea level and has length of 10 km and width of 3 km.
  The Mavrovo lake covers an area of 13,7 sq km of the Mavrovo national park and it’s deepest point is at the flood-gate, 48 meters.
  The Mavrovo lake was built to use the waters of the Radika and Mavrovo river, in order of production of electrical power. The Mavrovo lake filled the field of Mavrovo with water. Today there are four villages on the shores: Mavrovo, Mavrovi Anovi, Nikiforovo and Leunovo.
  A power plants were built in the Raven, Vrben village in 1959, north of the lake on the river Radika river and another one in Vrutok, built in 1957. This power plant produces by year, 390 millions kWh. 5.02 km NNE from Mavrovo center
• SAINT NIKOLA CHURCH The local people say that the saint and the God’s power do not allow for it to completely disappear in the depths of Mavrovo Lake. The phenomenon of its constant emerging from the waters is explained by them with the impossibility of covering and forgetting about a sacred place. It was built in 1850 by the Mavrovo people, who made it from fine processed stones. Its walls were fresco-painted by an unknown zograph. It was consecrated in the year 1853. But, by forming of the artificial lake and the dam, it was decided that it should be flooded. As its replacement, at only several meters from it, a build of a new monastery church dedicated to the same saint was initiated. 0.89 km N from main square / Mavrovo
• SARKOVA DUPKA CAVE The cave is open for tourists and completely safe. The cave was discovered three decades ago by local population of Mavrovo who were afraid of going inside it at first. The first one who was brave enough to enter was a man who lived near the cave whose name was Sarko. The cave was named after him. Visitors can go deep down into the cave by semi-circular metal stairs leading 20 meters underground. 0.12 km WSW from main square / Mavrovo
• AREVSKI SKI RESORT Zare Lazarevski ski-resort in Mavrovo (Mt. Bistra). Altitude of 1,255 meters. 1.93 km SW from main square / Mavrovo