Bridge of the poetry Traditional Cache

If there is something poetic about the sad fate of the Ohrid eel, then Struga is the right place for contemplating it. Struga is venerated by Macedonians as a place of literary inspiration and as a birthplace of the 19th century famous poet Konstantin Miladinov. He captured the beauty of his homeland in his poem, “T'ga za jug", ("Longing for the South”, "Touha po jihu"). Konstantin Miladinov wrote the poem while living in Russia. He was nostalgic in Russia and obsessed with the idea of going back to his homeland. It is these dark and dreary feelings that nurture his yearning for the warm sunshine of the South. By exclusively using positive epithets to depict the native soil, Miladinov evokes the painful, unattainable desire to return to his homeland, symbolically embracing it. The "South" in the poem is Macedonia, “Stambol” is Istanbul, then a significant cultural center and Kukush is a city that today belongs to Greece (Kilkis). Sadly and ironically, unhappy Miladinov never saw and felt the sun of his beloved South again: on the way back home, in Belgrade he learned that his older brother Dimitar was arrested in Stambol. Instead home, to Struga, Konstantin goes to Stambol hoping to help his brother. However, he was also put into a prison, and after two years executed. Two days after his death his brother Dimitar dies too…

The geocachers are hard men and women, but they surely have a poetic soul. This is why I think that no geocacher should be deprived of this masterpiece of poetry, so – here is the original – Macedonian version, and English translation (from Internet). Enjoy it, weep, smile, cry, what ever you like.

T'ga za jug ..........Longing for the South

by Konstantin Miladinov

Orelski krilja kak da si metneh..........If I had an eagle's wings
i v naši st'rni da si preletneh!..........I would rise and fly on them
Na naši mesta ja da si idam,..........To our shores, to our own parts,
da vidam Stambol, Kukuš da vidam,.......... To See Stambol, to See Kukus;
da vidam dali s'nceto i tamo..........And to watch the sunrise: is it
mratčno ugrevjat, kako i vamo...........Dim there too, as it is here?

Ako kako ovde s'nceto me stretit, ..........If the sun still rises dimly
ako pak mračno s'nceto svetit:..........If it meets me there as here,
na p't dalečni ja ke se stegnam,..........I'll prepare for further travels,
i v drugi st'rni ke si pobegnam,.......... I shall flee to other shores
k'de s'nceto svetlo ugrevjat, ..........Where the sunrise greets me brightly
k'de neboto zvezdi posevjat. ...........And the sky is sewn with the stars.

Ovde je mračno i mrak m' obviva ..........It is dark here, dark surrounds me,
i temna m'gla zemja pokriva: ..........Dark covers all the earth,
mrazoj i snegoj, i pepelnici, ..........Here are frost and snow and ashes,
silni vetrištča i vijulici, ..........Blizzards and harsh winds abound,
okolu m'gli i mrazoj zemni, ..........Fogs all around, the earth is ice,
a vg'rdi studoj, i misli temni. ...........And in the breast are cold, dark thoughts.

Ne, ja ne možam ovde da sedam! ..........No, I cannot stay here, no;
Ne, ja ne možam mrazoj da gledam! ..........I cannot sit upon this frost.
Dajte mi krilja ja da si metnam ..........Give me wings and I will don them;
i v nasi st'rni da si preletnam: ..........I will fly to our own shores,
na naši mesta ja da si idam, ..........Go once more to our own places,
da vidam Ohrid, Struga da vidam. ...........Go to Ohrid and to Struga.

Tamo zorata greit dušata ..........There the sunrise warms the soul,
i s'nce svetlo zajdvit v gorata. ..........The sun gets bright in mountain woods:
Tamo darbite prirodna sila ..........Yonder gifts in great profusion
so s'ta raskoš gi rasturila: ..........Richly spread by nature's power.
bistro ezero, gledaš, beleit ..........See the clear lake stretching white-
ili od vetar sinotemneit: ..........Or bluely darkened by the wind,
pole pogledniš, ili planina ..........Look at the plains or mountains:
-segde Boževa je hubavina. ...........Beauty everywhere divine.

Tamo po s'rce v kaval da sviram, ..........To pipe there to my heart's content.
s'nce da zajdvit, ja da umiram! ...........Ah! Let the sun set, let me die.

Every August at the Bridge of Poetry are held the Struga Poetry Evenings (Macedonian: Strushki vecheri na poezijata) visited by poets, writers and artists from all around the world. Laureates of Struga Poetry Evenings have included several Nobel Prize for Literature winners such as Joseph Brodsky, Eugenio Montale, Pablo Neruda, Seamus Heaney, Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca, and many others since 1966.

But Struga is not famous only by this poetic event. There are many cultural monuments in Struga and in its vicinity such as the Monastery of Kalishta with a rock church, from the 16th century, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid near the hotel Biser (Pearl). Another rock church is present in the neighbouring village of Radozhda, with frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries. The Church Sveta Bogorodica (Holy Mother) in the village of Vranishta is believed to be the one where Tsar Samuel was crowned. The church of St. George is located in the city of Struga; built on top of Samuel's church, it has many icons from the 14th - 16th centuries. Near the village of Radolishta, a basilica from the 4th century has been discovered, with a mosaic. Struga's old architecture, dating from the 18th and 19th century is also a cultural highlight.

An old jetty

Struga's location on Lake Ohrid makes it a slightly quieter and more peaceful experience than the more bustling Ohrid.

A night falls on the old bazaar

The cache is a small juice glass jar. Bring a pen!

Sources: Wikipedia, other internet sources. Photos: Internet and original (by Galejnik)