In today's borders, the region is divided between three countries, which is result of the division of the Ottoman territories of Europe after the two
Balkan Wars. Prespa itself has an important
geostrategic position. During the Roman rule through Prespa, the famous ancient Roman road "
Via Egnatia" was built. In addition to the road, several settlements were also built. In the 6th and 7th centuries, Slavic tribes did not settle permanently in Prespa. The Slavs skipped the region that had been already plundered and depopulated, but continued south to the Mediterranean coast. in folk costume, Upper Prespa, beginning of 20th century. In the late 10th and early 11th centuries, during the reign of the
Cometopuls, besides Prespa Lake, the
town of Prespa was also mentioned as the capital of the
First Bulgarian Empire. This city was also the seat of the
Bulgarian Patriarchate, whose seat was later transferred to
Bulgarian Patriarchate of Ohrid. During the year 1888, in the village of
German, in Lower Prespa, the
headstone of Samuel's parents was found, his father
Nicholas, his mother Ripsimia and his brother
David, dating from 993. It is one of the first written monuments in the
Old Church Slavonic language. It is currently located in the
National Archaeological Museum in
Sofia,
Bulgaria, most probably portrayed in the wake of the wars. From that period on, the island of Achilles, in the small Prespa Lake, there are still remains of the Cathedral church erected by Samuel in honor of St. Achilles. In the village
Kurbinovo,
St. George's Church has a remarkable fresco painting of 1191. It is a notable example of medieval painting located within North Macedonia. == See also ==