Kratovo (Кратово) - a city in northeastern Macedonia, located in the throat of an extinct volcano. It is one of the oldest cities in Macedonia and the Balkans.
There are several examples of the source of the name of the city Kratovo. The name Kratovo comes from the location of the city, which lies on a volcanic base, ie volcanic crater. According to the legend, the city was named after the words "kirat-ova", after the fortress on the banks of the Kratovska River, demolished by the Ottomans. In Byzantine times, the city was called "Koritos" or "Coriton".
Ancient and medieval
history
The area has been inhabited since Roman times. The city
was known as the mining town of Kratishkara, which belonged to the
Roman province of Dardania. In Byzantine times, Kratovo was known as
"Koritos" or "Coriton", which explains its location, "the riverbed
in which the city is located". As a testimony to the life and
importance of Kratovo in the ancient and medieval period as an
important mining center, are the remains of the mines and the large
number of underground tunnels and passages that connected them and
from which the ore was excavated and transported.
During the
reign of Stefan Nemanja, in 1189, Kratovo was annexed to Serbia,
under Serbian rule, the city was ruled by Despot Jovan Oliver.
The existence of Kratovo was narrated by Homer's epic "Iliad" in
VI BC. Coins from the time of Adolion Paeonian, a king who ruled
from 315 to 285 BC, also serve as evidence. At that time, the city
traded in gold, silver and copper.
Ottoman period
In the
second half of the 14th century, Kratovo fell under the Ottoman
Empire. In the 16th and 17th centuries, as part of the newly
conquered territories of the Ottomans, the city became a regional
center. In the 16th and 17th centuries, silver coins were minted
here. The Turkish Sultan Murat also visited the city. According to a
census from 1570, one can see the ratio of the ethnic composition of
the population to households. The document noted that there were 328
Christian families, 292 Muslim, 37 Jewish, and for the first time
ten Roma families. The famous Turkish travelers, Haxhi Kalfa and
Evliya Çelebi, in their notes describe Kratovo as a city where coins
were minted and that in that period the city had 800 houses, 350
shops, 20 small and large mosques, madrasas, tekkes, hammams,
fountains and more. Coins dating back to the Roman period, after
the arrival of the Turks, were reactivated at the latest during the
reign of Sultan Bayezid I (1481 - 1512) and in the next two
centuries coins with the mark "K" were made in them, which means
that they are made in Kratovo. From 1689 to 1805 the city was
deserted. After the Austro-Hungarian War of 1689-1690 and the
Karposh Uprising, the city was devastated and the mining shafts
closed. At the beginning of the XIX century Zletovo became a center
of mining and in Kratovo the mining activity completely stopped.
Kratovo is located in the northeastern part of Macedonia, between the
municipalities of Kriva Palanka, Probishtip, Sveti Nikole, Kumanovo and
Kochani, in the western part of Osogovo mountain, in the crater of an
extinct volcano. The Kratovska River and three smaller rivers flow
through it.
Kratovo is connected to the regional road "R-206",
which allows connecting the city with other main roads:
"Road M-2",
which connects it with Kriva Palanka (44 km) and the Republic of
Bulgaria (59 km) in one direction, and with Kumanovo (53 km) and Skopje
(90 km) in the other direction
"Road M-5" connects the city via
Probishtip (17 km), Kočani (53.5 km), Delčevo (104 km) and Bulgaria in
one direction, and in the other direction with Shtip (51 km), Veles (88
km ), Gevgelija (164 km) and Greece (166 km).
The climate is moderately continental and mountainous, due to the
altitude of the city. The influence of the Vardar Valley and the
Mediterranean can be felt in the Kriva Reka River.
The air
temperature differs in the summer period compared to the winter period.
The maximum temperature in the summer period is 38.5°C, and the minimum
in the winter period is -16.5°C, the average temperature is 11.3°C.
Precipitation ranges from 550 mm to 750 mm of water precipitation
per 1 m², depending on the absolute altitude. The most pronounced
precipitation occurs in April, May, October and November, and the driest
months are August, September and February. Kratovo falls under the
influence of southwest winds that lead to hot and rainy weather, while
northeast winds blow from the mountainous parts and condition dry and
cold weather.
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov ("Macedonia, Ethnography
and Statistics") from 1900, 4,500 inhabitants lived in Kratovo, of which
2,500 were Turks, 1,900 Macedonians and 100 Roma.
After 1912, a
large part of the Turks moved out, so that Kratovo turned into a small
urban settlement, which in 1931 had only 1,883 inhabitants.
In
the first organized census of SFR Yugoslavia in 1948, there were 23,961
inhabitants in the Kratovo area, of which 1,925 in the city of Kratovo,
1,509 in Probishtip and 20,527 in the villages (Kratovsko, Zletovska
Reka). From an ethnic point of view, the population consisted of 23,357
(97.4%) Macedonians, 262 Roma, 115 Turks, 59 Serbs and 168 others.
According to the 2002 census, 6,924 inhabitants live in the city of
Kratovo.
In the Middle Ages, Kratovo was known for its Kratovo
literary school, which together with the literary school of the
monastery of St. Gavril Lesnovski were particularly active from the 12th
to the 14th century. In the schools, old books were copied and new texts
of church content were written, which made Kratovo a cultural center in
the early Middle Ages.
Kratovo has the following cultural
institutions: the museum of the city of Kratovo, the house of culture
and the city library. From the educational institutions, there is one
secondary school DSU "Mitko Penjukliski", the kindergarten "Tsarka
Andreeva", a boarding school, a private school for foreign languages
and one elementary school "Kocho Racin".
There are three
Orthodox churches in Kratovo. During the Turkish rule, the city had over
20 churches, the remains of which have been found.
The church
"St. Nicholas the Wonderworker" in Tsarina neighborhood, restored in
1848.
The church "St. Jovan Pretecha" in the Fisherman's Quarter (the
work of the washerman Andreja Damjanov), restored in 1836. and
The
church "St. Gjorgi Kratovski" located in the old cemetery. It was
dedicated to the only martyr, declared a saint from Kratovo from the
16th century "St. Gjorgi Kratovski", who was burned in 1515 because of
his faith in Christianity. in Sofia. In his honor and glory and in honor
of stepping into the third Christian Millennium, the Kratovo
Municipality Council declared the holiday "Saint George Kratovski" as
the patron saint of the city, which is celebrated on February 24, and
the saint "Saint George Kratovski" became a symbol and protector of the
city and the municipality and in his honor a monument was erected in the
center of Kratovo.
In the center of the city there is a bust of the
sailor Pavel Shatev.
Kratovo was built with typical old-town Macedonian architecture and is known for its towers and bridges. According to some assumptions, in the past, there were as many as 13 towers in Kratovo, the largest of which is the Simic Tower. In the buildings, the stone and wooden construction, pereste and poplar, is significant, which gives the buildings elasticity and strength. The eaves and ceilings were decorated with decorative sticks. The porches of every house are a special feature of the Kratov house. The shape of the house also depended on the veranda. The doors of the houses are one of the most beautiful and elaborate details, they are either single-winged or double-winged. In the past, every Kratov house had a bathroom for bathing. As a separate room in the house, there was a fireplace, which served to heat the rooms and cook food.
Dupka - Talashmanci — necropolis from the late Hellenistic and Roman
times;
Railway - Ravnište — necropolis from Roman times;
Kratovo —
a settlement from the late Hellenistic and Roman times;
Kratovo —
medieval necropolis.
Source:
Cultural events
Lesnovski
bells - traditional poetic meeting;
Golden days - cultural event;
Potato Day - cultural manifestation and celebration of potato day;
Media
Kratovo has a radio station, Radio Kratovo, which publishes
information activities in the municipality and the city. The city has
two state and two private television stations that operate throughout
the country and one cable television station "Kratelsat".
The area of the city is covered with natural
greenery, has beautiful picnic spots, such as: the mountain "Lisec" and
"Bukovec" and the valley of the river Zletovica and Kriva Reka. The city
has the hotel "Kratis" and several catering facilities and a city
Olympic swimming pool owned by AD RIC "Silex"-Kratovo.
In the
city there is one sports hall, a football stadium of the "Silex"
Football Club, which competes in the First Macedonian Football League.
FC Silex won three championship titles and two cups of Macedonia in the
past. There are also two women's handball clubs: RK "Kratovo" and RK
"Dobra Voda", which compete in the First Macedonian Handball League,
karate club and chess club "Kratovo".
Born in Kratovo
St. Gjorgi Kratovski (1496/1497 - 1515) - New
Martyr Saint
Efrem Karanov (January 28, 1852 - December 6, 1927,
Kyustendil, Bulgaria) - folklorist, historian, translator, Macedonian
revolutionary
Josif Daskalov (1868 - 1909, Podrum Kale, Turkey) -
Macedonian revolutionary
Georgi Danailov (1877 - 1928), enlightened
actor
Mihail Monev - Macedonian revolutionary
Stefcho Maksimov (?
- 1898) - educated child
Grigor Manasiev (? - 1903), enlightened
activist and revolutionary
Jakim Ignatiev - Macedonian revolutionary,
member of VMRO
Boris Borozanov (1897 - 1951), artist and director
Stojan Lekov (? - 1924) - Macedonian revolutionary
Pavel Shatev (June
15, 1882 - January 30, 1951, Bitola) - Macedonian revolutionary
Koce
Kocevski (1902-1944) - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of
Macedonia and participant in NOV
Mitko Pendzukliski (1915-1944) -
Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and
participant in NOV
Tošo Kukovski (1926-1944) - Macedonian partisan,
fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Jove
Mihajlovski (1921-1944) - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom
of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Trajce Arsovski (1925-1944) -
Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and
participant in NOV
Tsarka Andreevska (1924-1944) - Macedonian
partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Ivan Andreevski (1922-1945) - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the
freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Isa Yantrevski
(1919-1945) - Macedonian partisan of Turkish nationality, fighter for
the freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Mitko Kanaliski
(1925-1944) - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia
and participant in NOV
Gligor Pazavanski (1920-1944) - Macedonian
partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Vera Pazavanska (1923-1944) - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the
freedom of Macedonia and participant in NOV
Cvetko Tonev (1918-1944)
- Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and
participant in NOV
Gjorgi Evremov (July 8, 1932 – May 6, 2011,
Skopje) — Macedonian biochemist, geneticist, full professor at the
Faculty of Agriculture in Skopje, Macedonian academician and president
of MANU
Durugut Edipovski (October 17, 1937 - April 21, 1991, Skopje)
- Macedonian high official and social scientist
Cane Andreevski (July
10, 1930) - Macedonian writer
Ljubisav Ivanov - Zingo (1936) -
President of the Socialist Party of Macedonia and Member of Parliament
of the Republic of Macedonia
Cedo Jakimovski (February 22, 1940) -
Macedonian poet
Stojanche Andonov - Dito (June 8, 1980), Macedonian
academic painter
Eleonora Mustafova - Macedonian singer
Vance Ivan
Lekov - Macedonian partisan, fighter for the freedom of Macedonia and
participant in NOV
Natasha Ilievska - karate player
They died
Atanas Babata (?-1903), revolutionary
"Kratovo via Brazil" - a song by the Macedonian group "Ljubojna" from 2017.