Kocani (Кочани, Kochani) - a city in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia with 28,330 inhabitants, seat of the municipality of the same name. The city lies in Kochani Field and is famous for Kocani rice and geothermal water.
A long time ago, a man named
Kocho was making money in China. Having worked hard, after many
years he decided to return to his homeland. Since rice was a staple
food in China, he decided to take rice with him on his departure,
hoping that this crop would succeed in his homeland. He took with
him a small amount of this white gold in order to easily and
smoothly transfer it from kingdom to kingdom. When he entered the
kingdom in which he was born, he encountered problems: rice was
forbidden to be imported in any form. However, Kocho did not want to
give up his intention to import the rice. He thought and in the end
he remembered. He learned that geese were not banned from being
imported as a commodity. He bought geese, gave them rice to eat, and
then slaughtered them. After entering, he cleaned them and took the
rice out of them. So Kocho transferred the rice from China, started
to produce it, which gave a new mark and culture to this area, and
according to his name, the place where he started to grow rice - got
the name Kochani.
The Macedonian revolutionary Gjorce Petrov
in his book "Materials for the study of Macedonia" published in
1896, wrote another legend and legend about the origin and origin of
the name of the city of Kocani. Namely, the city of Kocani was once
above the river on the place of the village Gratche, and the place
of the present Kocani was a swamp and whole herds of pigs grazed on
it. Here were the "kochini" (places where pigs are kept) of the
citizens, from which the newly founded city was called Kocani. In a
battle, the inhabitants of the city were slaughtered and so much
blood was shed that a furrow was formed in which a bull drowned.
After the battle, the city moved to Kocini and was called Kocani.
Antiquity
As for other settlements in Macedonia
and Kocani can not be said with certainty when it was founded.
According to the legends, spread among the population, Kocani
originated from the settlement that was located north of the current
location, in the valley of Kochanska Reka. Traces of that settlement
(remains of a high wall, Roman and Byzantine pottery, pithos, etc.)
were found at the site Dolno Gradishte in the area of the village
Dolno Gratche. In a certain period, the inhabitants of the
settlement withdrew to the plain and settled the area of today's
Kocani. Several Iron Age sites have been discovered in and around
the city, including some excavations at the Tekeshinski Lozja,
Barutnica and Alenjak sites. Also, excavations were made at the site
of Lukobia, where a necropolis from the Roman period, ie II-III
century, was discovered, in which ceramic objects and other movable
material were found, as well as remains of a rampart, which
indicates the existence of a fortress or a protective rampart. in a
city or settlement.
Archaeological material, discovered on
the left bank of the Kochanska River in the area of today's city,
indicates that this area was inhabited since ancient times. This
leads to the conclusion that this settlement grew from the former
Tranupara station, which according to the Poitinger board (Tabula
Peutingeriana - map of the military roads of the Western Roman
Empire from the IV century) was located about 30 miles from the city
of Astibo.
Middle century
For the first time in a written
document Kochani (Kochani) is mentioned in 1377 in a letter, in
which the despot Jovan Oliver gives him the church "St. Dimitrija
”of the city. If we use the data offered by the letter of John
Oliver, it can be concluded that Kocani, as a settlement under that
name, existed much earlier than 1337. because he did not build the
church. It existed and had a larger immovable property which
included the village of Jastrebnica (today Jastrebnik). After John
Oliver, the feudal lord Konstantin Dejanov ruled here, and then the
city fell under the slavery of the Ottoman Turks.
According to the writings of the Turkish travel writer Evliya
Çelebi, during the 1519 census, Kocani was a village with one Muslim
and 54 Christian families and 12 unmarried Christians (Tapu defteri
169, 170). The situation has not changed significantly in the
following decades. The census of 1573 noted that the Christian
population still prevailed (50 families and 50 unmarried), as even
in that year only one family was Muslim (Tapu defteri 85, 446-447).
As a settlement, Kocani paid a market tax which in the same year
amounted to 2,201 akçe (Turkish payment unit of that time) (Tapu
defteri 437). It is interesting that one of the two neighborhoods in
Kocani at that time was named Samokov, probably after the samokov
who worked here and brought the feudal lord an annual rent of 60
acres. According to Celebija, in 1660, Kocani had 600 houses,
covered with reeds and tiles and a small bazaar, consisting of 15
shops. There was a mosque, a mosque, a small administrative building
(silent) ... There were more Christians in the town, and there were
only ten Muslim houses. The houses of the famous brothers Qazim-bey
and Mehmed-bey were real palaces that served as lodgings for
travelers. In that period in Kocani lived about 3,000 inhabitants,
the same as Kumanovo, for example. Both existing, medieval towers in
the city originate from this period, one of which has been restored
and contains a small museum collection. According to a legend from
1870, Kocani and its surroundings are plagued by plague. After this
epidemic, the population of the city halved, leaving only 300 houses
in the city. At that time, a large number of Muslim families from
Asia Minor were colonized by the Turkish authorities. The newcomers
from the Orient mainly settled in the middle part of the city, where
a mosque had previously been built, while the Macedonian-Christian
population lived in the southern part of the settlement. At the
beginning of the 19th century, the city made some progress in terms
of education and culture. Therefore, very early, as early as 1816 in
Kocani, a school was mentioned in which the hieromonk Antonie
taught.
At the end of the XIX century, more precisely in
1878, Madziri from Russia and Bulgaria and Vlachs from Krushevo
moved to the city. These settlers formed their own neighborhoods,
Madzi Maalo which stretched northeast of the locality called
"Lukobija", as well as Vlashko Maalo, which at that time had 35
houses.
XX century
The inhabitants of the then
municipality of Kocani, which was part of the Kingdom of SHS
(Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia), also actively participated in the
field of politics. Thus, in the elections for the then
Constitutional Assembly that took place on November 28, 1920. It was
registered that in Kocani there were a total of 930 voters, and in
the entire Kocani district their number was 5,678. In the elections
of 1927. the number of voters increased to 1,173, and in 1935. at
1,387.
Regarding handicrafts, it is noted that in 1918. in
Kocani there were a total of 140 craftsmen, in 1934. their number
was 215, and by the beginning of World War II there were 369 craft
shops.
Statistics from 1965 They talk about increasing the
number of inhabitants to about 13,000, and today Kocani is a
municipal and regional center with about 30,000 inhabitants.
The city of Kocani is located 120 km away from the capital Skopje, more precisely it occupies the northern side of Kochanska Kotlina and occupies the space on both sides of Kochanska Reka. The city has a southern location in relation to the 2252 meters high Osogovo Mountains, and 8 km south of Kocani the fertile Kochani field ends and begins the mountain Plachkovica. Kocani lies at 350 to 450 meters above sea level. Near Kocani is the famous winter tourist center Ponikva which leads to an asphalt road in excellent condition, about 20 km long.
The M-5 highway passes through the city, starting from Ohrid, and through Bitola, Prilep and Veles (70 km) it connects with Stip (30 km), and through it it exits on the highway E-75 (Skopje-Gevgelija), ie with this road Kocani is connected with Central and Western Macedonia. To the east, this road continues to Makedonska Kamenica (30 km), Delchevo (55 km) and the border crossing with the Republic of Bulgaria (65 km), ie Blagoevgrad. To the southeast, towards Vinica (10 km) leads a quality road whose route continues to Berovo (60 km) To the north, towards Osogovo, from Kocani lead three roads; one along the valley of Kochanska Reka, to the artificial lake Gratche (6 km), and then by mountain road through Jastrebnik to the locality Lopen; the second through the village of Beli leads to Ponikva and further by land to the same locality, from where the two roads continue to Kriva Palanka; the third direction leads through Pripor and Recani to the foot of Carev Vrv. To the northwest Kocani is connected with Probistip (36 km) and Kratovo (48 km).
Also in 1926. A railway has been built to Kocani, connecting it
with Stip, Veles and Skopje.
Near the Ponikva peak on
Osogovo, as an extension of the asphalt road itself, in the
mid-1970s, a runway was built in the length of about 1,200 meters,
whose original purpose was planned for military purposes.
Kochani is located on the north side of
Kochanska Kotlina, at the place where Kochanska Reka leaves Osogovo
and expands its valley. It is located on both banks of the river,
surrounded on the east by Doklevski hill (450 m.) And on the west by
Lokobija and Alenjak (524 m.). It is open to the south and has no
border, because on that side is Kochansko Pole, while to the north
is a long and narrow gorge that gradually closes.
Kocani lies
at a latitude of 41 degrees and 55 minutes (which means it is
further south than Skopje), and at a longitude of 22 degrees and 25
minutes east of Greenwich.
The climate in Kocani largely
depends on the position of the city, as well as the configuration of
the terrain. It is characterized by relatively high temperatures and
little rainfall. The average annual temperature is around 13.5o C,
which means that it is the same as in Strumica, and higher than in
Skopje or Prilep. The annual temperature difference in Kocani is
quite large and it is 22.4o C. Extremely high and low temperatures
occur. Thus, on August 22, 1952. a temperature of 56.5 degrees
Celsius was recorded, and on January 26, 1963. the mercury in the
thermometer dropped to -35.6o C.
Kocani hosts the
Amateur Drama Festival (DAF), a cultural event of national character
that is held once a year, in the last week of May, and which
features the best amateur drama ensembles from Macedonia. Also
important is the cultural event Days of Rice, dedicated to Kocani
"white gold", filled with a series of festivities and celebrations
at the beginning of the rice harvest in the Kocani region, as well
as the event "Petrovdenski Konaci", related to the celebration of
the city holiday. - St. Peter's Day.
The Literary Club
"Longing", which operates within the library "Iskra", is the host of
two cultural events: the Children's Poetry Festival "May Flower" (of
national character) and Book Month.
There are several religious buildings in Kocani:
Church "St. вмч.
George "- built in 1917;
Church "Shroud of the Most Holy Mother
of God" - the cornerstone was laid on December 9, 1994, and was
consecrated on October 24, 1998. Used as a baptistery;
Church
"Holy Annunciation" - the cornerstone was laid on October 11, 2009.
It is located in the settlement of Valog;
Church "Holy
Transfiguration" - a cornerstone laid in 2006. It is located in the
settlement Usova Ueshma;
Church "Nativity of the Most Holy Mother
of God" - is located in the area of the factory "Leder";
Church
"St. George ”- a monastery church in Kocanski Dol;
Church "St.
Petka ”- a monastery church in Kocanski Dol;
Church "St. Petka ”-
church-chapel in front of the Amfenol factory;
Evangelical
Methodist Church;
Dudi Hanum Mosque
Dudi Hanum Mosque is a
Muslim temple located in Kocani, Macedonia. The mosque is part of
the Stip Muftiate. The mosque is dedicated to Dudi Hanum, who
provided funds for the construction of the mosque. During 2014, the
minaret of the mosque was completely demolished. Such a decision was
made by the mosque board after it was concluded that it was damaged
and there is a possibility of demolition. After this, a donation for
the construction of a new minaret began.
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov ("Macedonia, Ethnography
and Statistics") from 1900, 5,950 inhabitants lived in Kočani, of which
2,800 Macedonians, 2,600 Turks and 360 Roma, 150 Vlachs and 40
Albanians.
In the first organized census of SFR Yugoslavia from
1948, there were 41,298 inhabitants in the Kočani section, of which
6,657 were in the city of Kočani, 2,568 in Vinica, and 32,073 in the
villages (Kočansko Pole, Osogovija). From an ethnic point of view, the
population consisted of 33,171 (80.3%) Macedonians, 6,053 (14.6%) Turks,
680 (1.64%) Roma, 117 Serbs and 1,277 others.
According to the
2002 population census, the city had 28,330 inhabitants and belonged to
the group of medium-sized cities. The suburban settlement of Orizari,
which is listed as a separate settlement in the official censuses, has
already been merged with the city and together with it, Kočani has
32,106 inhabitants.
Kočani is located on the northern side of the Kočanska Kotlina, at
the place where the Kočanska Reka leaves the Osogovia and expands its
valley. It is located on both banks of the river, surrounded from the
east by Doklevski Hill (450 m.) and from the west by Lokobia and Alenjak
(524 m.). To the south it is open and has no border, because on that
side is Kochansko Pole, while to the north is the long and narrow gorge
that gradually closes.
Kočani lies at a latitude of 41 degrees
and 55 minutes (which means that it is south of Skopje), and at a
longitude of 22 degrees and 25 minutes east of Greenwich.
The
climate in Kočani largely depends on the location of the city, as well
as the configuration of the terrain. It is characterized by relatively
high temperatures and little precipitation. The average annual
temperature is about 13.5o C, which means that it is the same as that in
Strumica, and higher than that in Skopje or Prilep. The annual
temperature difference in Kočani is quite large and it amounts to 22.4o
C. Extreme high and low temperatures occur. So on August 22, 1952 a
temperature of 56.5 degrees Celsius was recorded, and on January 26,
1963 the mercury in the thermometer dropped to -35.6o C.
The Kochan Basin is the largest thermal basin of high-temperature
waters on the Balkan Peninsula. 18 boreholes have been drilled in it so
far, 14 of which are self-draining, and the aquifers occur at a depth of
86 to 1096 meters, with a flow rate of 2.2 to 350 l/s and a temperature
of 50 to 80°C.
Thermal springs occur near the villages of Dolni
Podlog and Banja, where two boreholes 35 and 460 meters deep are used in
Dolni Podlog, with a flow rate of 300 l/sec and an average temperature
of 78o C. In the village of Banja there are self-flowing thermal waters
with a flow rate of 30 l/sec and a temperature of 63o C.
According to the data from the State Statistics Office in 2007 in
Kočani there were a total of 4,859 individual agricultural holdings with
a total available land area of 6,137 ha. Of this area, 3,086 ha were
sown under grain, 451 ha under vegetables, 177 under fodder crops and 29
ha under industrial crops. Since ancient times, Kochani and Kochansko
have been widely known in Macedonia and the Balkans as an area - the
largest producer of rice.
In 2008, there were 558 retail
establishments and 77 catering establishments. Famous industrial
facilities in Kočani are: the factory for parts in the auto industry
"Rouen", the printing house "Europa-92" and more recently the foreign
investments "Amfenol", "Antura" and "Geerlofs".
Primary education in Kočani is carried out in four primary schools in
the city ("Nikola Karev", "St. Cyril and Methodius", "Rade Kratovce" and
"Malina Popivanova") and one in the settlement of Orizari ("K. P.
Misirkov"). . Secondary education is represented in two secondary
schools - the high school "Ljupcho Santov" (where there are also
economic classes), the electro-mechanical school "Gyosho Vikentiev".
Since 1956 the elementary music school "Risto Yurukov" also works.
Since June 1941, the "Iskra" library has been operating in Kočani,
serving the citizens of the municipality and the region.
Kočani is the host of the Amateur Drama Festival (DAF), a cultural
manifestation of a national character that takes place once a year, in
the last week of May, and where the best amateur drama ensembles from
Macedonia perform. Also significant is the cultural manifestation Days
of Rice, dedicated to Kochan's "white gold", filled with a series of
festivities and celebrations at the beginning of the rice harvest in the
Kochan region, as well as the manifestation "Petrovdenski konaci",
associated with the celebration of the city's holiday - Saint Peter's
Day.
The "Kopnezh" literary club, which works within the "Iskra"
library, is the host of two cultural events: the Children's Poetry
Festival "May Flower" (of a national character) and the Month of the
Book.
The following sports teams are active in Kočani:
city football
club "Osogovo"
women's football club "Kochani"
basketball club
"Basket Dino"
wrestling club "Spartak"
club for gymnastic sports
"Partizan"
futsal club "Unipub"
handball club "Mladinec"
table
tennis club "Kochani"
karate club "Kochani"
karate club "Partizan"
Ipon Karate Club
judo club "Gladiator"
real aikido club "Niko"
bicycle club "Electrica"
mountain biking club "Poskok"
mountain
sports club "Osogovo"
mountain sports club "Moskito"
sports
fishing association "Kochanski fisher"
chess club "Kochani"
football school "Football Stars"
football school "Mladost Toshev"
football school "Kochani"
Aleksandar Alexiev, novelist, critic, literary historian and theater
expert
Aleksandar Manov, officer and Duke of VMOK
Boris Stojchev,
theater expert and publicist
Branko Pendovski, writer
Blagoja
Popov, President of the Government of SRM (1974 - 1982)
prof. Dr.
Blagoj Popov, mathematician
Kirill S'mbov, nuclear physicist
Dr.
Konstantin Apostolov, doctor specialist in microbiology
Kochani
Orchestra, blech orchestra
Lazar Babamov, agronomist
Malina
Popivanova, revolutionary
prof. Dr. Mile Hadji Vasilev, lawyer
Nase Nasev, sports director of the IOC (Macedonian Olympic Committee)
Nikola Vrazalski, lawyer
Risto Yurukov, music teacher
Sashko
Nasev, writer, playwright and former ambassador of the Republic of
Macedonia to Canada
Stefan Popivanov, revolutionary
Stevo
Teodosievski, musical artist
Simeon Ivanov - Kango, guitarist, rock
musician
Ceko Stefanov, poet, prose writer, playwright, journalist
and publicist
Haralampie Manchev, specialist doctor, first Macedonian
medical researcher
Andrej Vasilev, German hockey player
Previous mayors of Kočani were:
Tome Vangelov (1920-1924)
Spiro
Simeonov (1925-1928)
Blagoj Jidrov (1928-1930)
Jovan Dvojakov
(1932-1935)
Trendo Hristov (1944-1946)
Blagoj Hadji Vasilev
(1946-1948)
Velichko Georgiev (1948-1950)
Vlado Stamenkov
(1950-1954)
Boro Efremov (1954-1963)
Mihajlo Arsov Vojcho
(1964-1966)
Stojan Trendov (1966-1970)
Kiro Danilov (1970-1974)
Ivan Serafimov (1974-1981)
Todosia Paunov (1982-1983)
Bozidar
Andonov (1984-1985)
Dear Georgiev (1986-1990)
Ljupcho Belichev
(1990-1996)
Lazar Veselinov (1996-2000)
Ljubomir Janev (2000-2002,
2005-2009)
Todor Pashovski (2003-2004)
Ratko Dimitrovski
(2009-2017)
Nikolcho Ilijev (2017-2021)
Ljupcho Papazov (2021-