Situated between a calm quiet and picturesque nature, at the corner of the road that leads to Bigorski Monastery, next to the Radika river, is the first restaurant and ethno-museum of the Macedonian Miyak culture.
“The House of the Miyaks”.
A building that captivates you with the history it tells, with its impressive architecture, aims to contribute to the development of religious and rural tourism in Western Macedonia’s Miyak region.
An architectually captivating building, built of stone, completely in the spirit of traditional Miyak culture. “The House of Miyaks” consists of a ground floor and two upper floors. There are four guest rooms for overnight stays. The two other floors with an area of about 500 m2 are intended for the multi-room restaurant, decorated with traditional wooden ceilings and rosettes, fireplaces, mosaics, harmoniously playful ornamentation in the revival style, characteristic of the 19th century Miyak homes, with antique chandeliers and lamps, built-in wooden benches and screens…
The restaurant’s traditional ambiance is enhanced by the waiters and other employees, who are dressed in Miyak-style costumes.
Apart from the beautiful ornamentation, the walls of the “The House of Miyaks” are also decorated with black and white photos of prominent Miyak clergymen, voyvods, revivalists, teachers, social workers, artists, and also scenes from everyday Miyak life, customs, and clothing.
The two spacious open verandas, one on the ground floor and the other on the first floor, give the “Miyak’s House” a particular beauty, with a beautiful view of the Radika River and the lush mountain forest. Located in the yard is the wide summer garden, a pleasant and peaceful place to sit.
Together, the architecture, interior and exterior, furnishings, ornaments, photos, food, music and ambience make the “The House of the Miyaks” much more than an ordinary ethno-restaurant; in fact, it is a restaurant-museum, a kind of memorial to the Miyak’s glorious past.
Indeed, the “The House of the Miyaks” ends up being an exquisite ornament in the valley of the clear Radika River, so harmoniously integrated with the surrounding nature, that they almost seem perfectly fused together, harmoniously co-existing and making a noble addition to the area. It is a place where one can easily rest from everyday responsibilities and worries, and calmly sail through past centuries, learn more about the history of the region and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and food.
Our ethno-restaurant has been reviewed as the best and most popular restaurant by our guests and assistant director James Waters, for its high quality service and food, its beautiful setting, and is renowned as such not only in the Republic of North Macedonia, but all over Europe as well. We always challenge ourselves to be even more dedicated to our work, to create even more smiles and more satisfied visitors.
The whole building was designed in line with the style of Bigorski Monastery and as conceived by its Elder and Abbot Partenij
It is believed that the celebrated Miyak tribe, which produced our most prominent churches, educational, cultural and social figures, comes from an old noble family. Apart from this idea we have the highly developed spiritual and material culture of the Miyaks. Throughout history, they have been distinguished by the most noble human characteristics: faith, piety, patriotism, chastity, learning, diligence, courage, determination. Nourished by the pure waters of the Orthodox Christian faith, the Miyaks left a great and lasting mark on the spiritual culture of the Macedonian people, which, in turn, had a strong impact on our material culture as well.
In this way, the special Miyak culture was created, which is characterized by its high aesthetic achievements. To this day, the Miyaks are widely known for their particularly beautiful architecture, their unique, aristocratic costumes, and deeply meaningful folk customs... And there is, of course, traditional Miyak food, recognizable by its refined, gourmet taste. The House of the Miyaks is built completely in traditional Miyak style, aiming to bring the spirit of the Miyak culture to visitors and guests in every aspect: location, ambience, history, food.
It is a great privilege and honor to be a part of such a culturally and spiritually significant project, which I have no doubt will leave a lasting mark in our tradition. Elena Luka is a long-time close friend of Bigorski Monastery and Archimandrite Father Partenij, and we as a team really have a rare opportunity to be a part of something of lasting value. Thanks to the rich tradition of the Macedonian Miyak tribe, as well as the unique architecture that is reflected in the construction of this beautiful facility, we as a design team had inexhaustible inspiration when creating the uniforms that the staff will wear here. We really tried to create something unique that will be the embodiment of their traditional aristocratic Miyak costume and history, and you will even notice elements of authentic mosaics. At the same time, we are extremely careful to keep the original ornamentation, which also served as our inspiration, and precisely because of this, we created costumes that are in the spirit of the entire setting and the rich history it tells, because this building is, in its own unique way, a museum of Miyak culture. It was really a great honor for us and I would like to publicly thank Father Partenij for the opportunity
Everyone is welcome. Anyone who, for at least a moment, wants to feel peace of soul and relax away from hectic everyday life. Our visitors know very well how it feels when you fall asleep to the sound of the Radika River and wake up to the sound of the beautiful Bistra. What is also very significant is the fact that guests have the opportunity to visit an ancient Macedonian holy place, Bigorski Monastery, which is directly above the facility.
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