Kriva Palanka (Крива Паланка) - a town in the northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, located in the area of Slavishte, under the slopes of the Osogovo Mountains on both banks of the Kriva Reka. In the immediate vicinity of the city is the border crossing Deve Bair to the Republic of Bulgaria. Kriva Palanka is 62 km away from Kumanovo, and 100 km east of Skopje.
The name of the city Kriva Palanka comes from the thus shaped valley of Kriva Reka. The former name of the city was Egri Dere, which in Turkish means "crooked river". Later, the word "Palanka" replaced the Turkish word "dere".
The city is one of the younger cities on the territory of the
Republic of Macedonia. The city was formed by the Turks, more
precisely by Bajram Pasha, and the city had importance as a military
and defense center. That center aimed to strengthen that region of
Macedonia. The founding of the city is recorded in Turkish documents
from 1043 according to the Muslim calendar or after the standard
Christian count in 1633. That document, or slab, was kept at the
entrance to the fortress and was written in the Arabic alphabet. The
plaque was later transferred to a mosque in the city center. Today
the plaque is kept in the Museum of Macedonia in Skopje.
In
his notes on Kriva Palanka from 1661-1662, the Turkish travel writer
Evliya Çelebi wrote, among other things: There is a gate that opens
to the southeast. It has ammunition depots, grain barns, ten
chess-cannons, 200 soldiers, a city commander (disdar). The city
gate and the ramparts were very high. There were 50 houses in the
fortress, a mosque and a dome for military music. Outside it there
was a city (palanka) with about 800 houses, a mosque, a large inn,
as well as a caravanserai and a small hammam ... For travelers who
passed through this place there was plenty of food ... In the town
(town) there were enough shops, especially handicrafts, in which
metal objects (nails, etc.) were made. There were also master
craftsmen. There were also iron ore workshops ... "
The good
position of this small settlement enabled it to grow into a larger
settlement. According to 19th century censuses, the city was
considered a settlement with a Christian Macedonian and a Turkish
Muslim population.
An important Christian layer is being
formed in the city, which in the XIX century carried on its
shoulders the revival and development of the city, in a Christian
and Orthodox manner. During this time, the city layer of rich
Macedonian merchants and craftsmen was formed, who traded outside
the Ottoman Empire and brought with them to the city the new trends
and new ideas of the XIX century.
During this period in Kriva
Palanka, one of the first Macedonian revivalists, Joakim Krчоovski,
was active, who, with the help of local merchants, in the period
1814-1819, printed his famous five books in Budim, in a lively
vernacular. Krчоovski not only developed the need for literacy, but
also exerted a decisive influence on the establishment of a
church-cell school in 1817. which was located in the house of Enger,
near which later with great commitment of the city leaders and the
founder David Jerej, in 1833. the city church of St. Demetrius will
be built.
As a result of the church-educational activity, in
Kriva Palanka, a church-epitropic municipality operated in 1833,
which in 1861 was transformed into a church-school municipality, and
already in the same year it will govern itself without officially
giving up the jurisdiction of the Skopje Patriarchate. Metropolitan.
World War I and World War II
After the First World War, after
1918, Kriva Palanka for the first time received the status of a
municipality within the Vardar Banovina of the SCS kingdom, received
the first indigenous president (mayor), and received the character
that it has largely retained to this day. In those years, Kriva
Palanka received several important buildings: the municipal
building, the Officers' Home, the Partizan school, the Old Hospital,
and received the first regulation of the Kriva Reka riverbed on the
stretch from Osichko maalo to Numulia. The construction of the first
power plant in northeastern Macedonia, on the Durachka River, was
also started, but it was later stopped.
The city is located in the extreme northeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, in the area of Slavishte, under the slopes of the Osogovo Mountains. It is the only city settlement in Slavishte, where it plays the role of a local center and administrative center of fifty settlements in this region.
Kriva Palanka has a temperate-continental climate with moderately cold winters, moderately hot summers, cool springs and relatively warm autumns, due to the geographical mood and certain influences entering from the Aegean Sea via Kriva Reka. The high parts of Osogovo are influenced by the steppe climate. The average annual temperature is 10.2oC. The warmest month of the year is July with an average temperature of 20.0oC. The coldest month is January with an average temperature of -0.3oC. The average annual temperature fluctuation is 20.3oC. Compared to the surrounding areas, the Kriva Palanka area receives significant rainfall. This is due to the absolutely high altitude which is a natural condenser for water vapor, carried by westerly and southerly winds. The average date of the first snow cover in this area is November 30. The belt above 1700 meters above sea level has very low average annual temperatures, so the peaks Ruen and Carev Vrv are covered with snow from October to early June. The snow cover on Rouen remains in July.
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov ("Macedonia, Ethnography
and Statistics") from 1900, 4,340 inhabitants lived in Kriva Palanka, of
which 2,500 were Turks, 1,500 Macedonians, 320 Roma and 20 Vlachs.
In the first organized census of SFR Yugoslavia from 1948, there
were 28,828 inhabitants in the Krivopalanka area, of which 1,967 lived
in the city of Kriva Palanka, and 26,861 in the villages of Slavishte.
From an ethnic point of view, the population consisted of 27,300 (94.6%)
Macedonians, 1,199 (4.15%) Serbs, 194 Roma and 135 others.
According to the 2002 population census, the city had 14,558 inhabitants
and belonged to the group of medium-sized cities.
The majority of the population in Kriva Palanka is of the Orthodox
faith. Orthodoxy is deeply embedded in the life and tradition of
Palanchans, and this is evidenced by the large number of churches and
monasteries located in the city, as well as in the immediate
surroundings. Kriva Palanka in Macedonia and beyond is known for one of
the most beautiful monastery complexes - the monastery of Saint Joakim
Osogovski.
Osogovo monastery
Church "St. Dimitrij" - Kriva
Palanka
From the economy in Kriva Palanka, trade is the most developed due to
its proximity to the Bulgarian border. Other developed branches are
agriculture (mostly potatoes are grown, and to a lesser extent corn,
wheat, barley, rye, oats, etc.) and mining (the Toranica mines (for lead
and zinc) and "Bentomak" are well-known). In the center of Kriva Palanka
there are several old craft shops, such as watchmakers, potters,
opinchers and other trades that are still actively working. There is
also a department store in the center of the city, and several sawmills
and sawmills for firewood and wood for furniture are operating on the
hills near the city.
Several kindergartens, three elementary
schools and a high school operate in the city.
Due to its
location on the European corridor G-8, the extension of the railway line
to Kriva Palanka and the Bulgarian border, which is currently being
built to the village of Beljakovce, has been planned for some time.
In the near future, the implementation of the project for the
gasification of the city will begin, for which 7 million euros of
foreign aid has been provided.
In recent years, the local authorities in Kriva Palanka have
increasingly invested in tourism as one of the important branches of the
economy in Macedonia. With its natural beauty and rich
cultural-historical tradition, Kriva Palanka is increasingly being
promoted both among domestic and foreign tourists. In its program, Kriva
Palanka offers visits to monasteries and historical places in the city
and its surroundings, then organizes visits and accommodation in one of
the most beautiful Macedonian monasteries - the monastery of Saint
Joakim Osogovski. Also, the deposits of Gradec, Trnovo and Stanci are
open to tourists at any time.
Gradec, Hermitage of Saint Joakim
Osogovski. The village of Gradec is near Kriva Palanka, more precisely,
it is located 7 kilometers away from the city. According to the legend,
our saint Joakim Osogovski used to live in this place, before he moved
to Babin Dol, where his monastery is located today. Near the hermitage
is the archaeological site Gradište, with remains from late antiquity
and the Middle Ages. Also in the village is the church of St. Nikola
from the 19th century, and near it is the old school, which has been
adapted to accommodate tourists.
Trnovo. The village of Trnovo is
located 15 km northeast of Kriva Palanka. In the village is the old
church of St. Nicholas from the 16th century, near which is the parish
house, which offers accommodation for guests. Within the entire complex
there are two more buildings, the old school and the cooperative home,
which with minor adaptations, can be used for tourism. Also here, guests
can taste traditional dishes, prepared in a traditional way.
Stations, Drenak and Durachka Reka. They are located 6 km southeast of
Kriva Palanka. Both villages represent pleasant places with beautiful
ethno-ambiances, with houses built in the style of traditional
architecture. In the villages, the mills and mills are still functional,
the older residents still wear traditional folk costumes and live in a
traditional way. Tourists can taste food (banica pod vrsnik, kachamak,
sour milk) prepared in a traditional way, and they can stay in the
houses of hospitable villagers.
Several cultural events are held in Kriva Palanka every year, the
most important of which are: the Art Colony "St. Joakim Osogovski", the
Summer School of Architecture and the folklore festival "St. Joakim
Osogovski".
Art colony "Saint Joakim Osogovski"
The art colony
"Saint Joakim Osogovski" was held for the first time on September 5,
1987. The colony is held every year from September 5 to 20 and is
supported by His Eminence, the Metropolitan of Polotsk-Kumanov, Mr.
Kiril. In 1993, the colony acquired an international character and more
artists from different countries take part in it.
Folk Festival
"St. Joakim Osogovski"
The folklore festival "Saint Joachim
Osogovski" is a festival with an international character and is held on
August 28 and 29 in Kriva Palanka. So far, two editions of the festival
have been held and several folklore societies from Macedonia, Bulgaria,
Serbia and Montenegro took part in it.
Several sports events are held in Kriva Palanka, among which the most
famous are the sports events for mountaineering and climbing the
surrounding peaks. The most famous sports events in Kriva Palanka are:
Tromedja – traditional meeting of the tromedja on the border line
between Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria, in the atar of the village.
Golesh, which takes place on July 12 (Petrovden). The meeting is
organized by the mountaineering societies from the three municipalities
of Kriva Palanka, Bosilegrad and Kyustendil that gravitate to the border
line, and is attended by organizations, institutions and local
authorities from the three sides.
Transversala Tsarev Vrv. PSD ROUEN,
traditionally every year, in the second half of June, for 25 years in a
row, organizes the traverse Tsarev Vrv, or the ascent of Tsarev Vrv
(2085 m). The transversal begins from Kriva Palanka, through the
monastery of St. Joakim Osogovski goes to the Ljuljki area, then Sveta
Voda, Toshino boište, PTC Kalin Kamen, Kalin Kamen peak, Altan Cheshma
and to Tsarev Vrv peak.
4M – International Mountain Transversal. PSD
Rouen, for several years in a row, at the beginning of May, is the
organizer of the international mountaineering transversal 4M. The hiking
trail is part of the international connection with hiking trails
(according to the legend from the 11th century) of the four spiritual
brothers, the hermits St. Joachim, St. John, St. Prokhor and St.
Gabriel. The trail starts from the Lesnovo monastery (Probishtip) and
ends at the Osogovo monastery (Kriva Palanka).
ROUEN – Traditional
climb to the highest peak of the Osogovo Mountains, Rouen (2252 m). The
climb is organized in the first half of September, and the organizer is
PSD Rouen. The ascent of Rouen takes place with a permit, due to the
fact that the peak is located on the border line between Macedonia and
Bulgaria.
International table tennis tournament. The tournament is
held on October 8 on the occasion of the liberation of Kriva Palanka.
The best under-18 players from the Balkan countries participate in the
tournament. This is one of the biggest sports events in the region,
which, according to its quality and massiveness, gets more and more
affirmation every year. And this year, from October 3-5, the fifth
consecutive international tournament "Kriva Palanka 2008" will be held,
in which more than 150 players from the Balkans will take part in men's
and women's competition.
Nightlife in Kriva Palanka is limited to the few discos/cafes located in the city center.
Firoklis Antonov (1880 - October 31, 1942, Sofia, Bulgaria) —
Macedonian revolutionary and member of the Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization.
Boris Arsov (1906 - 1954, Skopje) - member of ASNOM and
university professor
Milica Stojanova (June 6, 1932) — Macedonian
theater, film and television actress
Kiril Cenevski (January 28,
1943) - film director and screenwriter
Nenad Novkovski (May 14, 1958)
— Macedonian professor and politician.
Jane Jakimovski (1966 - †
March 21, 2001, Skopje) — Macedonian defender
Meri Mladenovska -
Gjorgjievska (April 30, 1969) — Macedonian jurist, lawyer and politician
Momir Stojanovski (1970 - † January 22, 2001, Tearce, Tetovsko) —
Macedonian defender
Goran Stojanovski (1973 - † Brest, Skopje,
Montenegro, March 8, 2001) — Macedonian defender
Frosina Tashevska
Remenski (February 22, 1977) — Macedonian politician and former Minister
of Labor and Social Policy of Macedonia
Ljupco Nikolovski (August 20,
1983) — Macedonian politician and Minister of Agriculture in the
government since 2017