Delčevo (Делчево, Delchevo) (until 1950 Carevo Selo) - a town in the eastern part of Macedonia located in the area of Pijanec, near the border with Bulgaria.
Delčevo , according to a legend in Byzantine times,
was called Vasilevo, as a Greek variant of the Slavic Tsarevo. For
the first time as a settlement Carevo Selo is mentioned in a charter
of Tsar Dushan from 1347 to 1350. With it he gave several places and
fields from Pijanec to the monastery from Lesnovo.
Ottoman
period
In Turkish times Delčevo was also called Sultania, by
analogy with the original name.
Until the 17th century, the
settlement lay on the right side of the river Bregalnica on the
present toponym Selishte, more precisely under the hill Ostrec near
the road leading to Bulgaria. From the first centuries of Turkish
rule there is not much information about the position of Delcevo. In
the middle of the 17th century, Sultan Mehmed IV lived in its
vicinity. Mass Islamization was carried out on the population at the
time of his visit to Pijanec. Due to the oppression and pressure,
many Macedonian settlements were deserted, including the then
Tsarevo Selo. It is assumed that at the time of that sultan the
settlement was moved to its present place on the left side of the
river Bregalnica. The city mosque built in the 17th century is also
cited as evidence.
However, it is thought-provoking that the
Turkish travel writer Evliya Çelebi spent here only a few years
later in 1670 and wrote in his Travelogue:
"From Vinica we
climbed the Kocani mountain ore, moving through the gorge and after
four hours we arrived in Carevo Selo. "This is a Muslim village at
the foot of a mountain and is decorated with about 100 houses and a
magnificent mosque mined by a minaret."
We should also
mention the folk tradition that says that the settlement under the
hill Ostrec was deserted when the plague reigned and the surviving
population settled on the place where today Delčevo is.
The
oldest part of the city is considered to be the Turkish colony that
was created around the mosque. According to Jaranov, until the 19th
century Delčevo was a village, a Turkish colony, inhabited by
purebred Turks and a large part of the Islamized Macedonian
population, called Pomaks, who did not know the Turkish language.
Only a few families were Orthodox Macedonian.
Towards the
middle of the 19th century, the bazaar began to develop and the
settlement to grow, and at the same time the Macedonian population
to increase. After the space in Sredno Maalo was filled, the spread
through Gocho Potok started, ie. upper neighborhood or today's I
region. In 1863 there were 75 Macedonian houses in Delčevo, and in
1873 109.
In 1856, the construction of the church was
completed, which was mainly inhabited by Macedonians fleeing Turkish
oppression in the surrounding villages. Greater emigration of the
Macedonian population from this area took place in 1878 after the
Russo-Turkish war. After the end of the war, the famous Macedonian
duke Ilija Markov (Grandfather Iljo Maleshevski) created the
little-known Pijanec Republic, and after its destruction, the
Macedonian Christian population, fearing for their safety, fled en
masse seeking refuge on the territory of newly created Bulgaria.
About 150 Macedonian households from the villages and the city moved
to the Kyustendil region. A small number of those refugees later
returned. Turkish refugees from Bulgaria and even Bosnia and
Herzegovina settled in the place of the emigrated Macedonians. The
invading Turkish population, called "Madzirci" settled in Madzirsko
maalo, today's III district of the city.
On the left side
along the river Bregalnica, on the narrow flat space where the
squares and inns were, the construction of the trade and craft shops
along the two narrow streets started. With that, the bazaar was
finally formed and Delčevo grew into a city settlement.
The
Balkan and World Wars
During the Balkan Wars a large number of
Turks left the city, so that in 1914 the population was 1,701. After
these wars, a new Macedonian population came from the surrounding
villages, mostly from the passive villages of Bigla, Selnik and
Dramche, which bought Turkish properties.
In 1931. the
population increased to 3,746 inhabitants. After this year, the
emigration of the Turkish population to Turkey continued
voluntarily, especially in 1953. In 1935, the construction of the
first houses on the right side of the river Bregalnica began.
After the liberation, on April 23, 1950, the Presidium of the
National Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia decided that
Tsarevo Selo be renamed Delchevo, in honor of Goce Delchev.
In the sixties the town expanded on the right side of the river
Bregalnica, and in the seventies on the hill Milkovo Brdo. With the
increase of the employees in the working organizations in Delcevo,
the number of the population in it also grew. Today Delčevo is a
modern city settlement with wide asphalt streets and boulevards,
sewerage network and parks and greenery.
164 km east of Skopje, at the foot of Mount Golak, spread on both banks of the river Bregalnica lies the town of Delčevo. It is the largest settlement in the Pijanec area, which stretches over an area of 585 km 2, located between the Osogovo Mountains (north) and Maleshevo (south). The city lies at an altitude of 590m to 640m. Despite being located in the easternmost part of the country, Delčevo has a relatively good geographical position and traffic connection. It is a crossroads for eastern Macedonia. Through Pehchevo (27 km) and Berovo (34 km) it is connected with Strumica to the south, and through Makedonska Kamenica (24 km) and Kocani (51 km) it is connected with Stip to the northwest. To the west, 39 km, is Vinica, and to the east is the border crossing "Arnautski Grob" (11 km), through which you can reach the capital of Pirin Macedonia - Gorna Dzumaja (34 km)
The climate in Delčevo is continental Eastern European
with a modified pluviometric regime. The average annual temperature
in Delčevo is 11 ° C, with an absolute minimum of -26 ° C and an
absolute maximum of 39 ° C, while in higher areas the average annual
temperature drops to 3.5 ° C. The warmest month is August, and the
coldest is January. Spring is always colder than autumn.
The
clouds are not large, so the year is dominated by sunny and clear
days. The average annual rainfall in Delchevo is 548 mm, and in the
mountains over 1,600 meters above sea level. and up to 1,000 mm.
Precipitation, although relatively low, their distribution in the
vegetation period (April-September) is favorable and is over 50% of
the total annual precipitation.
The vegetation period with a
temperature higher than 10 ° C lasts 191 days during the year. This
favorable climate allows the growth of various plants, and is also a
very suitable natural condition for the development of tourism in
this area.
The vegetation period with a temperature higher
than 10 ° C lasts 191 days during the year. This favorable climate
allows the growth of various plants, and is also a very suitable
natural condition for the development of tourism in this area.
Church "Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary"
Assumption of the
Blessed Virgin Mary (or just St. Virgin Mary) — Orthodox church in the
city of Delchevo, representative of the Macedonian revival. It
represents the main temple of the Delchev bishopric in the Bregalnica
eparchy of the MOC - OA.
The church was built in the middle of
the 19th century. There are no exact data, but the year 1858 engraved on
the outer pillar is taken as the year of construction. In his paper
"Drunken Republic", Blagoj Stoichovski says that the construction ended
in 1856.
The temple is a three-nave basilica, without fresco
painting. The icons are the work of prominent painters Dimitar Andonov
Papradishki, Grigorij Petsanov and other authors. The icon "Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary" is the work of the master Dimitar Anastasov
from Magarevo, dated 1858. A large part of the iconostasis icons are
also his. Although the forms are over-stylized, they are presented with
a high artistic sense, thanks to the artist's skill. The iconostasis
made of wood. In 1904 the northern wall of the church collapsed in an
earthquake. Later the church was restored.
First school in
Delchevo
The building in which the first school was opened in Delčevo
(then Tsarevo Selo) is preserved in the church yard.
Church "St. Cyril and Methodius ”- a new church
in the lower part of the city;
Church "St. Kliment Ohridski ”- a
new church on the location where in 1961, by a decision of the then
government, a church was demolished;
Church "St. Naum Ohridski ”-
baptistery church. It was consecrated on August 4, 2013;
Church
"St. Bogorodica ”- grave church;
Church "St. Bogorodica Balaklija
”- the main monastery church of the Delčevo monastery;
Church
"Shroud of the Most Holy Mother of God" - a monastery church in the
Delčevo monastery;
SU "Metodija Mitevski Brico" -
Delčevo
"Vancho Prke" primary school - Delčevo
Primary school
"St. Kliment Ohridski" - Delčevo
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov ("Macedonia, Ethnography
and Statistics") from 1900, 1,520 inhabitants lived in Tsarevo Selo
(Delcevo), of which 575 Macedonian Muslims, 520 Christian Macedonians
and 425 Turks.
In the first organized census of SFR Yugoslavia
from 1948, there were 20,159 inhabitants in Tsarevoselski srez, of which
3,173 in Tsarevo Selo (Delcevo), and 16,986 in villages (Pijanec,
Osogovija). From an ethnic point of view, the population consisted of
15,669 (77.7%) Macedonians, 4,036 (20%) Turks, but some of them were
Muslim Macedonians, 300 (1.48%) Roma and 154 others.
According to
the 2002 population census, the city had 11,500 inhabitants and belonged
to the group of medium-sized cities.
Persons born in Delčevo:
Snezhana Adamčeska - Macedonian teacher
and university professor at the Faculty of Philosophy
Vladimir
Atanasovski - former director of the Administration for Security and
Counterintelligence of Macedonia
Ljubomir Belogaski - prominent
Macedonian academic painter and university professor
Elena Kozuharova
- Macedonian poet, novelist and essayist
Voislav Kusevski -
Macedonian historian and full professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in
Skopje
Metodija Mitevski Brico - one of the most famous organizers
and participants in NOB
Nikola Stojanovski - Macedonian partisan,
revolutionary, freedom fighter for Macedonia and participant in NOV
Diana Petrova - Macedonian writer
Vencislav Simonovski - football
player
Milka Takeva-Grigorijević - Macedonian political scientist
Goran Trajkovski - current mayor of Delčevo and politician
Milka
Hristova - Macedonian doctor of medicine and former MP in the Parliament
of Macedonia