This is the story of the marble geological phenomenon in Macedonian Pelagonia region that connects nature, cultural heritage and today.

Following in the footsteps of our geological and cultural heritage related to marble, as a favorite medium for ancient sculptors, and a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste, in  2019, Scout group "Phoenix" from Prilep, with great a passion started tо explore.

A brainstorm of ideas, emotions, vision and action for our project, to revive the stories of heritage created by Prilep marble in our Ancient city’s, which today is a resource that connects us to the world. The fascinating story of the creation of marble, the stories and symbols carved on the marble monuments in the ancient cities, turned into our mission to bring alive the stories of the natural and cultural heritage. We are connected  with the Ministry of Culture,  and with the marble mine company "Uni Marble”, and so with great support ,we created the Geological-Cultural Hub MARBLE LAKE.  

The concept "Learning in nature and from nature",  raised the curiosity of young people, their enthusiasm, creativity, energy, strength. On the marble site we created the Open Air Gallery. We have revived the old tesserae mosaic technique, so far we have produced two beautiful mosaics placed on marble blocks with motifs from the  heritage. The biological diversity of this locality, unique for its endemic world and herbs, became a motive for research and revive the stories about medicinal herbs, old rites with herbs, folk names and more. From recycled marble, we designed a botanical corner which we planted with local plants.

A seemingly overly ambitious project located in a beautiful but wild location, our activities justified our mission and vision. The impact is great on the popularization of the natural and cultural heritage of this region, ideas for tourism are growing, the village has started to be revitalized

Six years ago, interesting information sounded in the media about the natural phenomenon that the blue/turquoise lake was created from underground waters among the giant marble blocks in the marble quarry in the Prilep village of Belovodica in RN. Macedonia.  The lake between the giant marble walls completes the beautiful natural/geological landscape and complements the historical, cultural, and traditional components related to the marble of this place.

As we have been committed to the green agenda for years, proud of our cultural and natural heritage, this information resonated strongly in our minds. In 2019, our scout group "Phoenix" from Prilep, in the footsteps of the marble, with great a passion we started tо explore the cultural and natural heritage of Pelagonia region

A brainstorm of ideas, emotions, vision for our project, to revive the stories of heritage created by Prilep marble, which today is a resource that connects us to the world.

At the Museum in Prilep, in Bitola in Stobi, the scouts were curious to explore about Archeological sites…. Stibera - City frozen in time (IV-III B.C) called Macedonian Pompeii, invaluable treasury for archaeologists.  Heraclea Lyncestis, the city of Philip II of Macedon - the crossroads of the Via Ignatia road, city (Stobi as well)  of timeless  mosaics, stories,  which became the inspiration for the design of the Macedonian coins, motifs that are still today an inspiration in the branding of many companies.

Following in the footsteps of the Prilep marble today, they have transferred us into the new world of explore. We discover that from Bianco and Sivec Prilep  marble, many world objects have been made, including Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, a wall in the White House in Washington, fence in Tag Mahal, the Senat of the Oliy Majlis of  Uzbekistan,  the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, many objects in China, Germany, Singapore...

In 2019, the marble mining company, Uni Marble, agreed to cooperate with us to create an educational hub.   Our project is supported by the Ministry of culture as well.  This is how the Geological-Cultural Hub "Marble Lake" was born, which we set up under the open sky. Our geological hub become a summer school of heritage education and skills that brings stories to life.

The fascinating scientific story about the process of creating marble known as metamorphism, narrated by Vasco Dameski - geological engineer and manager of the mine, the stories about skills of the ancient stonemasons, inspired the scouts to creativity in many directions. In the hub we revive the old tesserae mosaic technique, and the young students created the first artwork with a motif of chamomile-herb, a plant that is a treasure in our tangible and intangible cultural heritage. This is how we started the outdoor gallery in this wild unique location, which it makes this site valuable with promising educational potential and a place of inclusion, driven by the ether of natural and cultural heritage.

The natural environment incorporated into the cultural heritage, opened the fascinating path of the connection of belonging. In our hub we designed the educational botanical module from recycled marble stones, overlooking the lake and planted the garden with local plants. The National Museum of Nature Science recognized our mission and with its professional assistance, gave us а new dimension for research, discovering new stories.

In the light of the medicinal herb recipes which аre a real treasure in our national tradition and culture, it was a wonderful awakening of our curiosity to discover the botanical world of this site, and the scouts learned about the Latin and folk names of the herbs, and about traditional healing recipes. It was a beautiful experience to prepare Sciceritis scardica tea (Планински чај) and Тhyme tea (Мајчина душичка), and to taste it in that unique marble setting.

*In 2021/22, our MARBLE LAKE Geological-Cultural Hub project was supported by the Slovak Development Program Slovak AID.  The members of the Slovak Embassy in North Macedonia, great lovers of nature and Macedonian cultural heritage, were actively involved in the implementation of the project.  Fascinated by the old mosaic-making technique, they actively worked with scouts on the new mosaic which we set up on the open gallery at the Marble Lake. The motif of braid that we crate on the mosaic, and which is deeply present in our cultural and traditional heritage as a symbol of eternity, motivated the girls to braided their hair and talked about the hair-braiding skills they inherited from their mothers and grandmothers.

Ambassador Henrik Markush, a passionate cyclist, could not resist this unique geological adventure, and together with the Prilep cycling association Che, did a bike tour around, and in our hub, had a long discussion with us about this wonderful geological site and the cultural heritage associated with marble.

On the occasion of the European Days of Cultural Heritage, a video clip of our Geological-Cultural Hub MARBLE LAKE, was presented at the Gathering of Scouts of the Republic of North Macedonia that took place from July 18-22, 2022, in Ohrid- Macedonian pearl, a UNESCO city.

In 2023 our project was recognized by New European Bauhaus and we had a great opportunity to present our project at the main prize event in Brussels, and it was a great connecting with the European dimension of this project.

 Our project made an impact to popularize this natural geological site, many people come to visit the wild marble lake site. The image and work of the marble company increased. The village of Belovodica, which is located under the hill of the marble quarry, began to revive. A few families returned to the fields. A curiosity about Macedonian food - a family started growing truffles (interesting story from the agriculture field). Last summer 2023, a restaurant was opened in the village with the promotion of traditional food.

The Prilep's geologically-culturally rich region will become a European place of understanding and respect for the natural and cultural heritage that belongs to humanity

European dimension

Marble as a geological phenomenon connects the world. The memory carved into the marble monuments created incredible stories that preserve the legacy. Stone monuments are still today a relic of spiritual, artistic, design inspiration characteristic of all European countries. Designing new European values.

In 2024 in our project it is planned to organize an educational hiking tour to the Marble Lake for students from the high school of architecture and design "Zdravko Cvetkovski" and the "Phoenix" scout group.  Organized and supervised by a professor of architecture and interior design, in the ambient marble complex overlooking the lake, a panel is planned on the use of marble as a material throughout history and culture, in architecture, interior design and art. It is planned to organize an outdoor workshop that will include conceptual sketches in the field of modern architecture and interior design and marble art objects that will incorporate symbols from the cultural heritage of these spaces.

In the focus of the big picture of the development of this region within the European framework , also for the reason of bringing the Marble hub closer to children with disabilities, we will set up a camp as well in the courtyard of the restaurant in the village of Belovodica.   

 Workshops:

It is planned to organize an educational workshop for herbarium design. The flora for the herbarium will be selected from the marble locality.

Another activity we are planning is to paint motifs from the heritage on marble stone, and this could be our inspiration to create the postcards we would like to publish.

Mosaic workshop

Preparation of an educational photo exhibition of endemics from Prilep that are on the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN

In our camp, we would like to bring the cultural heritage closer to the youth, to the tourists and visitors of Marble lake. We will design an photo exhibition of Stibera heritage, which we will set up in the camp/in the restaurant, and a curator from the Prilep Museum will give a lecture about Stibera.