Prilep

Prilep (Прилеп in Macedonian) is a 66,246 inhabitants city (4th largest in North Macedonia) by river Pena, in the center of North Macedonia, known as the city under Marko's Towers. It's largely ethnic Macedonian but it has some presence of the Romani minority. Prilep is considered Macedonian's tobacco and beer capital.

How do I arrive to Prilep?

  Prilep is an important city in the center of North Macedonia and is well communicated. 

• Train: there are railways to Prilep from Skopje (aprox. 2.5 hours) and to Bitola (aprox. 30 minutes). 
• Bus: there are buses that frequent buses to Bitola or Skopje and buses to Ohrid too. There are frequent buses to Kruševo from Skopje and Bitola too.
• Car: if you rented a car from Prilep you can reach Kruševo (aprox. 35 minutes), Bitola and Kavadartsi and Veles (aprox. 40 minutes), Ohrid, Pelister National Park and Štip (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes) and Kumanovo and Skopje (aprox. 1 hour 50 minutes).

History

Near Prilep are the ruins of the ancient Macedonian city of Styberra (first a town in Macedonia and later Roman Empire), razed by the Goths in 268 and remaining partly inhabited. The town was first mentioned as Prilap in 1014, as the place where Bulgarian Tsar Samuil had a heart attack. Byzantium lost it to the Second Bulgarian Empire, but later retook it. Prilep was acquired in 1334 by Serbian King Dušan and after 1365 the town belonged to king Vukašin and when he died, Prilep was ruled by his son Marko. In 1395 it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire until 1913, when it entered into the Kingdom of Serbia. Prilep was a major center of the Bulgarian national revival in Western Macedonia in the 19th century. It was occupied during WW1 by Bulgaria between 1915 and 1918 and from that year, Prilep became part Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (formerly Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). In 1941 Prilep was occupied by the German Army and it was annexed by the Kingdom of Bulgaria (1941-1944). On 11th October 1941 the rebellion of the Macedonian people against the fascist Bulgarian occupation began. It was taken by communist partisans and from 1944 to 1991 the town belonged to the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within Yugoslavia and since 1991, part of the Republic of North Macedonia. 
 

What can I visit in Prilep?

 Prilep Old Town is located around Ploštad Čento. Varoš, Prilep's oldest neighborhood, was considered a separate village not so long ago and used to have 77 churches.

These are Prilep's main attractions:

• Prilep Old Bazaar: pleasant and compact bazaar with orthogonal streets considered North Macedonia's 3rd largest. Around it can be found Prilep Clock Tower, a 55 m high clock tower built in 1826 and regarded as the most beautiful in Macedonia, and next to are Čarši Mosque ruins, 15th century mosque (considered the oldest in Europe to have a double balcony on its minaret) that was set in fire in the protest agains the massacre of 19 Macedonian soldiers by Albanian rebels in 2001.
• Memorial Museum 11th October 1941 (120 MKD/ 50 MKD  adults/ students): small museum that conmemorates the rebellion of the Macedonian people against Bulgarian occupation. It's located on a building that the Bulgarian fascists used as a police station.
• St. Blagoveštenie Macedonian Orthodox Chuch: 19th century church that is an excellent example of revival period architecture, consisting of three nave basilica with galleries and lavish woodcarving. In the courtyard are the remains of Pere Tošev (important revolutionary member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization).
• Mound of the Unbeaten (free): memorial from 1961 designed by Bogdan Bogdanović that honours the people from Prilep's area fallen in fight for the liberation of North Macedonia during WW2. It consists of memorial urns made of marble, almost resembling life-sized chess pieces.
• Marko's Towers: remains of 10th-14th centuries towers, most of them built under king Marko (last ruler prior to Ottoman overtake) that been constantly populated at least since the Bronze Age. The location and rock formations around it make the hike to reach Marko's Towers so interesting. It was placed by North Macedonia in the tentative UNESCO World Hertiage list in 2004.
• Varoš Monastery: 12th century Byzantine style church, seems it's grown out of the rocks, and has compositions of frescoes inside as well as relics of Sts Cosmas and Damian. On the columns of the porch of the church look for the second-oldest inscription in Cyrillic letters (996).
• Other churches in the district of Varoš are: St. Bogoroditsa Macedonian Orthodox Church (small 15th century church), St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church (church from 1298 regarded as one of the loveliest one because of its decorated façades and the remarkable frescoes frescoes inside are particularly remarkable), St. Dimitrija Macedonian Orthodox Church (13th century church, the largest in Varoš, that preserves 14th century carved royal doors) or St. Atanasij Macedonian Orthodox Church (partially ruined church).
• Museum of Tobocco in Prilep (150 MKD/ 90 MKD  adults/ students): museum that talks about Prilep as North Macedonia's tobacco capital. It is has a large collection regarding tobacco farming, production, smoking and related topics.
• Going 15 km northeast it can be found Treskavec Monastery, 12th century monastery with frescoes (they survived a fire in 2013) from different periods. It provides great views of Prilep and enyoable sunsets.

Marko's Towers

Prilep Old Bazaar

Kruševo in winter

Going 32 km west from Prilep it can be found Kruševo (Крушево in Macedonian, Crushuva in Aromanian), 5,330 town that was the capital of the short living Kruševo Republic during the Ilinden Uprising (1903) and also a bilingual Macedonian and Aromanian town.  the rebels proclaimed a short lived Kruševo Republic. The town's architecture is fantastic on its own and was designed by Mijaks (considered excellent builders) paid by Vlachs. The houses are mostly symmetrical and in the front has the so called bondruk (construction of wooden columns and beams covered with white plaster), usually with a small balcony. The town has some interesting 19th-20th centuries churches with frescoes; for example St. Nikola Macedonian Orthodox Church, Uspenie na Presveta Bogorodica Macedonian Orthodox Church or St. Jovan Macedonian Orthodox Church, known as the Aromanian Church.

Makedonium-Ilinden Monument

The town is also home of many museums. The most important one is Makedonium-Ilinden Monument (7-18; 100 MKD), bizarre and unique structure (similar to something out of Star Wars or a virus) opened in in 1974 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Second Session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia and the 71st anniversary of Ilinden Uprising, containing historical pieces as well as the remains of Nikola Karev (president of the Kruševo Republic). Close to it is the Museum of National Liberation War (8-18 Mon-Fri), museum dedicated to partisan leaders of Vardar Macedonia during WW2. At the Museum of the Ilinden Uprising, located in the old house in which the Kruševo Republic was proclaimed, that explains the context of Ilinden Uprising through photographs, documents, maps, and weapons. It can also be interesting visiting Nikola Martinovski Gallery, not only to see some of the works by one of the most famous Macedonian artist but also to discover how traditional houses in Kruševo are. 
 On the road from Prilep to Skopje, at about 50 km from the former, it can be visited in the 30-people village of Slatina (Слатина in Macedonian) the Cave Slatinski Izvor, longest explored cave system in North Macedonia, created during the last ice age. It was placed by North Macedonia in the tentative UNESCO World Hertiage list in 2004.

Where can I eat in Prilep?

Prilep is home a popular Macedonian dish like širden (kind of sausage with three kinds of chopped meat seasoned with black pepper, pimento and salt). Some interesting places to eat are the restaurant Makedonska Kuka [Македонска куќа] (Joska Jordanoski 4) or the barbacue restaurant Mir [Мир] (Prilepsko Ezero). Prilep has some nice cafes such as Di Caprio.

Posted in: Europe,North Macedonia