Valandovo (Валандово) - a town in the southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia on the road to Dojran, and the administrative center of the Municipality of Valandovo. From Valandovo there is a road to Strumica.
Today's Valandovo administrative-territorial (municipal) area is located in the southern part of Macedonia, in the area of Bojmija, spread south of the Demir Kapija Gorge, east of the river Vardar and west and north of the mountain branches of Plavush and Belasica. To the north of the Valandovo area extends the Tikvesh area, ie the Negotino municipal territorial area. They are separated by the mountain strait of the river Vardar formed by the ends of Kozuf mountain. Valandovo is located at 170 meters above sea level and is one of the lowest valleys in Macedonia. The city is 23 km southwest of Strumica, 25.5 km northeast of Gevgelija and 18 km north of Nov Dojran.
Ancient history
In the
area of today's Valandovo in ancient times there was a Roman
settlement, as evidenced by the discovered Roman mosaics and other
archaeological materials in various parts of the city. Forty
archeological sites were discovered on the territory of the
Municipality of Valandovo, among which the ancient town of Isarot is
more important, near the village Marvinci, which is identified with
the ancient town of Idomena whose origin was from the end of the 5th
century BC. and was located on the road Thessaloniki - Belgrade. The
city flourished in Roman times, but in the early 6th century it was
destroyed by a strong earthquake.
After the disappearance of
the ancient city of Isarot, Valandovo grew into a significant
strategic settlement in the Valandovo valley. Some source materials
and legends say that the ancient city on the foundations of which
today lies Valandovo, in the early Byzantine period was mentioned as
Micro Constantinople (Little Constantinople).
Medieval
history
The Slavs settled in Valandovo and its surroundings at
the end of the 6th century or at the beginning of the 7th century.
At that time, great changes were noticed, both in terms of the
structure of the population, and in the change of the toponyms of
the settlements. In written sources the city is first mentioned in
the 10th century as Wallander. But that does not mean that Valandovo
as a settlement did not exist before. Confirmation are the
archeological findings in the city. The name "Wallander" was derived
from "the beautiful location of the city in the valley." Beautiful
valley or good valley, in Old Slavic language meant "valjan dol"
("valandol" or Valandovo). Otherwise, the beautiful Valandovo valley
had the epithets: "golden valley", "green valley" and the like.
In medieval Valandovo was also mentioned with the name
Alavandovo, meaning "flower city" ("city of flowers"). The city was
mentioned under this name in a church charter of the Serbian Tsar
Dusan from 1349. From the word "Alavandovo", by dropping the first
letter "a" and through metathesis of the first syllables, the name
Valandovo was obtained.
Ottoman period
In the second half
of the 17th century, the famous Turkish travel writer Evliya Çelebi
also visited the city. In his notes on Valandovo, he wrote, among
other things: "V'landova is a small town, inhabited mostly by
Christians and only a small number of Muslims. The settlement is
named after its founder Valandova, who built the monastery "St.
George." The town has 150 houses, with 900 inhabitants, and the
bazaar consists of 50 shops. There is also a mosque (a small mosque
without a minaret), a hammam, two annas, and I do not remember if
there were schools, madrassas and tekkes ... It is surrounded by
vineyards and gardens ... There is also a beautiful monastery with
monks. "I have never seen a more orderly monastery than this."
Contemporary history
Valandovo in its centuries-old history
has had many ups and downs. The city has repeatedly suffered from
natural cataclysms (earthquakes, fires, floods, epidemics, etc.) as
well as military actions of foreign invaders in this area. The 19th
century is very important in the history of the city of Valandovo,
when thanks to its convenient location it reached great development.
According to legend, trade was developed in the city at that time.
The following were exported: cattle, hides, trout, oil, wool, silk,
pomegranates, grapes and other agricultural products, mainly in
Thessaloniki.
In the 19th century Valandovo was a very
important transit-traffic place. Traders and tenants traveled daily
on the north-south roads, in caravans and carts loaded with
merchandise. This greatly contributed to the revival of economic
activity in Valandovo, to the development of trade and handicrafts.