Lesnovo Monastery

Lesnovo monastery, officially called Monastery of St Archangel Michael and St Hermit Gabriel of Lesnovo, is a medieval monument in Macedonia. It is perhaps the best preserved endowment of a Serbian noble of the 14th century, with well-preserved frescoes. 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 Probistip

Lesnovo Monastery is located in the vicinity of the eponymous village in the northeastern part of North Macedonia. The establishment of the monastery is related to the life of the hermit Gavril Lesnovski. Until the 1940s, the monastery housed the largest library in the Balkans, with a large collection of books and manuscripts collected from the earliest times and the most distant parts, but also works created in the region. St. Gavril is one of the four hermits, together with St. John Rilski, St. Joachim Osogovski and St. Prohor Pchinski, considered to be the originators of the hermitic monasticism in Macedonia that developed under the influence of Mount Athos and occupied the northern parts of Macedonia. The hermit Gavril Lesnovski had been praying quietly for more than 30 years in the caves surrounding the monastery, which were created as a result of watermill stone extraction, and some are a natural phenomenon.

The complex consists of a monastery dedicated to St. Gavril Lesnovski and the church dedicated to St. Archangel Michael, a bell tower, a warehouse building and restored sleeping quarters. The monastery represents a popular site among the locals for religious pilgrimage, picnics and the natural beauties of the northeastern part of the country