New Europe
Day Twenty-nine: Ohrid to Prilep

Brother Kalist points upwards. 'Have you seen our Gaudi ceiling?'
I peer up obligingly. It's a moment before I notice the twinkle in his eye.
'I tell my Spanish visitors it's by Gaudi.' He looks rather pleased with himself.
'Just for a joke.'
My favourite building in the complex is the sternly functional 650-year-old vaulted refectory, with its table made from one long stone block with niches cut around the base into which the monks could fit their feet. A long, finely carved gully runs down the centre along which bones and other left-overs could be sluiced away.
Brother Kalist regrets that he will have to leave us now, as the mayor of Prilep has arrived for the evening mass. I have the feeling that his visit is a rare event, less to do with devotion and more with appearances.
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PALIN'S GUIDES
- Series: New Europe
- Chapter: Day Twenty-nine: Ohrid to Prilep
- Country/sea: Macedonia
- Place: Prilep
- Book page no: 69
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