LESNOVO MONASTERY

The municipality of Probistip (326 km2) is located in the south-western part of the East Planning Region. According to estimates of 2015, the Municipality of Probistip has around 15,200 inhabitants. In addition to the town of Probistip, in the municipality of Probistip there are another 35 settlements,including Lesnovo which is famous for the monastery “Saint Gavril Lesnovski”-Lesnovo Monastery.
Lesnovo Monastery is one of the most important medieval monuments of North Macedonia. It is perhaps the best preserved endowment of a Serbian noble of the 14th century, with superb and excellently preserved frescoes. Its historical importance, above all as a literary center, is of equal importance.
Location –The monastery is located on the south-west slopes of Mountain Osogovo, in the middle of a volcanic crater. It lies at the beginning of Lesnovo village, at the height of 870 meters. The closest townlet is Zletovo which together with Lesnovo belongs to the municipality of Probištip.
Lesnovo village is located in the vicinity of Probistip, 900-1000 meters above sea level. The village monastery St. Gavril Lesnovski was constructed in 1347 by the ruler Oliver First. The monastery is known for its manuscript-writing school and the wood-carved iconostasis from 1811, a work of art performed by the Mijak craftsman. The monastery is the centre of the Christianity in this part of the country and has been visited by many during religious holiday services. The Church of the Holy Archangels in Lesnovo. The village Lesnovo is 17 kilometers from Probistip. An asphalted road leads to it. The village has its own authentic architecture and an enormous very old ethnological collection. The Lesnovo environment is very interesting – the landscape is predominately rocks, naturally sculptured, among which the most impressive one is the so-called “Virgin Mary with a Child”
The monastery is located in a secluded region which was popular with hermits of the 11th century. One of them, St Gabriel of Lesnovo, lived in the local caves and died there as well.
It remains still unsolved whether Gabriel founded a monastery or was it founded on the spot close to his hermitage. Very little is known for the origin of this monastery since Gabriel’s relics were taken away and the first and only mention of the old monastery comes only from 1330 in a chronicle by the monk Stanislav of Lesnovo, a famous writer.
From this period it is known that a number of hermitages (usually the number 16 is mentioned) operated in the caves around the monastery. Many from the numerous fraternity were also living as hermits, including the first bishop, Arsenije I, who was buried in one of them.
We know little of what happened with Lesnovo in the tumulus years after Dušan’s (1355) and his son, Uroš’s death (1371). In 1381, the local lord Konstantin Dejanović issued a third charter giving Lesnovo back to Chilandar and placing it under the supervision of the bishop of Velbužd.