Kumanovo

Kumanovo (Куманово in Macedonian, Kumanovë in Albanian) is a 70,842 inhabitants city (3rd largest in North Macedonia) in the northern part of North Macedonia, close to the border with Serbia. It's mainly inhabited by Macedonians and then Albanians. It was importnat in Karposh’s rebellion and in First Balkan War.

How do I arrive to Kumanovo?

  Kumanovo is an important city in North Macedonia and is located close to the road between Thessaloniki and Belgrade. Therefore, it's well communicated. 

• Train: there are railways to Kumanovo from Skopje (aprox. 40 minutes). 
• Bus: there are frequent buses that reach Skopje (aprox. 2 hours) from Kumanovo. There are daily buses to Kratovo from Kumanovo, Štip and Skopje.
• Car: if you rented a car from Kumanovo you can reach Staro Nagoričane (aprox. 20 minutes), Kokino and Skopje (aprox. 40 minutes), Kuklica (aprox. 50 minutes), Štip (aprox. 1 hour) or Tetovo (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes). It can also be reached from Vranje (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes) or Niš (aprox. 2 hours 15 minutes) in Serbia, Pristina (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes) in Kosovo or Blagoevgrad (aprox. 2.5 hours) and Sofia (aprox. 3 hours 10 minutes) in Bulgaria.

History

The individual modern villages of the Kumanovo region originate in the 14th century when it was part of Serbia under King Stefan Milutin and Emperor Stefan Dušan, being part of a major domain (oblast) owned by sevastokrator Dejan. The town was first mentioned in 17th century, founded by Turkish colonists and later by Muslim Albanians, with Slavic population entering the town in the late 18th century (and rising during early 19th century). In 1689 Karposh organised Karposh's Rebellion while Austria staged an attack on the Ottomans but when the Austrian army was forced to withdraw, the rebellion was destroyed. In 1878 took place Kumanovo Uprising (led by Serb district chiefs that asked Prince Milan IV of Serbia to aid the uprising) but were defeated. In October 1912, during the First Balkan War, Serbian forces won a decisive victory over the Ottomans north of the town in the Battle of Kumanovo, splitting the region of Macedonia among Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria (treaty of Bucharest, 1913). When Yugoslavia was occupied by the Axis forces, the communist resistance began on 194, forming a Macedonian federated state within the Yugoslav Federation. After 1945 Kumanovo experienced fast economic, administrative and cultural development. In 2001 the Albanian insurgency was spread to the region of Kumanovo, with a visible separation in Kumanovo affecting the inter-community relations. In 2015 there was a shootout between Macedonian police forces and an Albanian armed group.
 

What can I visit in Kumanovo?

 Kumanovo is one of the largest cities in North Macedonia but there aren't many things to do, most of them located around Ploštad Nova Jugoslavija. It can be used as a base to explore the northeastern part of the country (currently it isn't touristic).

These are Kumanovo's main attractions:

• Eski Mosque (sunrise-sunset; free): mosque first built in 1532 and reconstructed in 1751. Its structure consists on a single-storey building with a porch on the north side, the basic architectural features of early Ottoman mosques. It was greatly damaged during WW2.
• Museum Kumanovo (8-18 Mon-Fri): museum focused on archeology, history (focused on the Ilinden revolution, the interwar period, communist resitence in WW2 and the socialist period of Yugoslavia) and ethnography (based on folk costumes and fabrics, kitchen items, folk musical instruments and folk customs).
• St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church: church from 1851 designed by Andrey Damyanov. It is surrounded by arcades and has a rich interior with galleries, frescoes and furniture. Its icons are painted by Kosta Krastev in 1856.
• St. Troica Macedonian Orthodox Church: Neoclassical church built in 1901 by Vladimir Antonov for the local Serb community (they weren't accepted in St. Nikola church, controlled by the Bulgarian Exarchate). It was sponsored by the Serbian government and the iconostas was made from a donation by Queen Draga of Serbia.
• Kosturnitsa Ossuary Memorial: Yugoslav memorial designed by Sreten Stojanović that consists of an obelisk and an ossuary containing the remains of communist guerrillas killed in the area of Kumanovo during WW2.
• Not far from Kumanovo it can be found the 555 inhabitants village of Staro Nagoričane (Старо Нагоричане in Macedonian and Serbian), a mostly Serbian ethnic municipality. It's known because of St. Velikomačenik Georgij Macedonian Orthodox Church (10-15; free), a 14th century church, first constructed in 1071 during Byzantine Macedonia, and reconstructed in 1318 by Serbian King Stefan Milutin, who conquered the northern parts of North Macedonia in 1282. It's considered a masterpiece of Christian art in the area and its frescoes and architecture are considered spectacular.

St. Velikomačenik Georgij Orthodox Church

Memorial Ossuary Kumanovo

Kokino megalithic observatory

There are many things to do around Kumanovo. One of the most popular ones is going out 30 km from Kumanovo to reach Kokino megalithic observatory (60 MKD), a very special Bronze Age archaeological site located on volcanic stones that is believed that it was used to mark the sunrise and sunset and how much synodic months lasted (creating a calendary with 19 moon years). It was modified to point out the sunset during winter and summer solstice. It is believed that it was used to mark the sunrise and sunset and how much synodic months lasted, creating a calendary with 19 moon years. It's nominated to be added to UNESCO's World Heritage Site list. Not far from here it's located the small viallge of Kuklica (Куклица in Macedonian), 100 inhabitants, where it can be visited a strange but beautiful stone pillars known as The Stone Dolls (8-21) because of its resemble with humans. They were naturally formed 30 million years old.

River Kratovo and Grofčanski bridge, Kratovo

Going 50 km east it can be found the town of Kratovo (Кратово in Macedonian), 6,924 inhabitants, placed on the crater of an extinct volcano. It's a destination very out of the beaten path but it's quite worthy, known for its bridges and towers. The visitor can learn a bit more about this town at Kratovo Town Museum (8:30-16:30 Mon-Fri), at an Ottoman-era house.The town has two churches: St. Jovan Otsečen Macedonian Orthodox Church (19th century church that has some of the religious items that had the previous church, burnt in 1689 during an uprising) and St. Georgij Kratovski Macedonian Orthodox Church (20th century church honouring St George of Kratovo who was burned at the stake in 1514 for not accepting Islam as his religion). But without any doubt the best activity in Kratovo is walking it all, enjoying all its bridges and towers (many of them dating back to the Middle Age) as well as the traditional houses.

Where can I eat in Kumanovo?

Kumanovo has some interesting places to eat the Irish pub Harp [Харфа] (Narodna Revolucija) or the Balkan restaurant Baba Cana [Баба Цана] (Kasapski krug).

Posted in: Europe,North Macedonia