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Golemo Ezero

Photo: Македонец · CC BY-SA 3.0

North Macedonia · Pelagonia

Golemo Ezero

Directions

Големо Езеро

Part of Pelister's Eyes

Golemo Ezero, also called Great Pelister Lake, is a post-glacial lake at the head of the Ezerska River, east of the Vrteška peak, high on Pelister inside the national park. It formed through the erosion and accumulation of glacial ice in the over-deepened part of a cirque, which a moraine ridge closes off on the south and east sides. The lake covers only about 0.044 km², but it is the deepest mountain lake in North Macedonia and one of the pair known as Pelister's Eyes. A well-marked hiking trail leads to it from the village of Nižepole, and another starts at the mountain hut on its shore and descends towards the village of Brajčino in Prespa.

Nature

Molika pine, fir, blueberry and high pastures surround the climb to the lakes. Bears, wolves, deer, chamois and eagles live in the park, with chamois and deer the most likely to be seen.

Visit

Swimming

No reliable information

Tips

Golemo Ezero is reached on foot or by jeep, not by ordinary car. The usual route from Nižepole, a short taxi ride from Bitola, climbs about 1,000 m and takes just over three hours; the return trip is a full day of 6–8 hours. A longer marked trail of 22 km comes from the park’s info centre, past the Široka hut, and a third comes up from Brajčino on the Prespa side, in 5–6 hours. Pelister’s summit is about two hours above the lake.

The “Dimitar Ilievski Murato” hut on the shore opens on weekends from early May to late October, and at other times by arrangement; it has about 30 beds, a kitchen and wood stoves, and a spring nearby, so book ahead. Bring food, water and warm layers, as snow patches can last into June. Malo Ezero lies about 2.5 km further on. See the Pelister’s Eyes pages for more.

Nearby lakes

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Photo: Albinfo · CC BY-SA 3.0

Albania (Southeastern Albania) · Greece (Western Macedonia) · North Macedonia (Pelagonia)

Lake Prespa

Tectonic · natural

~18 kmaway
849 metreselevation
BoatingFishing

More lakes in Pelagonia

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Sources & data

  1. OpenStreetMap: Големо Езеро (way 56062992), OpenStreetMap contributors
  2. Macedonian Wikipedia: Големо Пелистерско Езеро, Wikimedia Foundation
  3. Wikidata: Great Pelister Lake (Q15466731), Wikimedia Foundation
  4. Big Lake, Small Lake, Peak Pelister, Pelister National Park
  5. Mountain hut at Golemo Ezero (Big Lake), Pelister National Park
  6. Info-center – Big Lake (Golemo Ezero), Pelister National Park
  7. Pelister National Park, North Macedonia, Our Wanders
  8. Pelister to Big Lake, Macedonia Travel

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