Kruševo | |
|---|---|
      A northern view, St. Nicholas Church, a common street, a south-eastern view, paragliding championship, Makedonium Monument. | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Kruševo Location within North Macedonia | |
| Coordinates:41°22′12″N21°14′54″E / 41.37000°N 21.24833°E /41.37000; 21.24833 | |
| Country |  North Macedonia |
| Region | Pelagonia |
| Municipality | Kruševo |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Tome Hristoski (SDSM) |
| Elevation | 1,350 m (4,430 ft) |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• Total | 4,104 |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 7550 |
| Area code | +389/48/47X-XXX |
| Vehicle registration | KS |
| Climate | Cfb |
Kruševo (Macedonian:Крушево[ˈkruʃɛvɔ]ⓘ;Aromanian:Crushuva[2]) is atown inNorth Macedonia. InMacedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in theBalkans, situated at an altitude of over 1350 m (4429 feet) above sea level.[3] The town of Kruševo is the seat ofKruševo Municipality. It is located in the western part of the country, overlooking the region ofPelagonia, 33 and 53 km from the nearby cities ofPrilep andBitola, respectively.
The name Kruševo has semantic development of "pear" that occurs in theSlavic parallelgruša,kruša "pear, pear tree" < *grušiti, *krušiti"to crumble, to break", and also in theIndo-European parallel *peisom "pear" < *peis-.[4]
The name of the town in other Balkan languages is:
Initially part of theByzantine Empire, the area was conquered by theFirst Bulgarian Empire in the 9th century to be conquered again by the Byzantium in the 11th century. The region came shortly under the rule of the short-livedPrincipality of Prilep ofPrince Marko (r. 1371 - 1395), a successor state of theSerbian Empire (1346–1371) where the father of ŽupanVukašin Mrnjavčević (co-ruler of KingStefan Uroš V) held the region. The principality and region came underOttoman Turkish rule in 1395.[5]
A large part of the Macedonian population in Kruševo originate fromLazaropole and descend fromMijaks, a Macedonian sub-group who settled in the town alongside the Aromanians by the middle of the eighteenth century.[10][11] Aromanians settled in Kruševo in addition to Orthodox Albanian refugees often in groups of families and led by a priest fleeing the 18th centurysocio-political and economic crises in what is now southern Albania.[10][11] Orthodox Albanians arrived fromVithkuq and theOpar region while local Kruševo traditions also relate that other families arrived fromKorçë and the villages ofPolenë,Dardhë, andMborje.[10]
In the 19th century, Kruševo grew as a commercial center with connections throughout the Balkans and beyond. Local merchants such as the Nitsiotas brothers and five other companies were active inVienna.[12]OrthodoxAlbanians fromMoscopole which migrated in the beginning of the 19th century to Kruševo would found the so calledOhtul di Arbinesh (Hill of the Albanians) neighborhood. This community would soon assimilate into the Aromanian population of the city.[13] In the 1860s a Bulgarian municipality and Bulgarian school were established the city.[14] Subsequently, a Bulgarian girls school was opened[15] and it operated simultaneously with the Greek schools in the town. A Romanian school started functioning in Kruševo in 1876.[16] In the early 20th century, Kruševo was a small town inManastir Vilayet with a mixed population of 4,950Bulgarians, 4,000 Vlachs (Aromanians) and 400 ChristianAlbanians, according to Bulgarian geographerVasil Kanchov's statistics.[17] Due to intermarriage with locals, at the onset of the twentieth century few in the small local Orthodox Albanian community spoke Albanian.[10] A neighbourhood inhabited by Aromanians in Kruševo still bears the nameArbineš meaning Albanians in theAromanian language.[18] Per Bulgarian teacherNikola Kirov, who was native to the town, most of the Aromanians, as well as the Orthodox Albanians were in fact (sic)Grecomans.[19]
During theIlinden Uprising in 1903 the rebels proclaimed a short livedKruševo Republic.[20] Its leader,Nikola Karev, created a council of Kruševo's notable citizens, with twenty members from each of the town's three major ethnic groups (Slavic speakers, Albanians & Vlachs).[21][22] Because the uprising was suppressed, the city was almost completely destroyed by the Ottoman army. One of the most important points in the Ilinden Uprising was the declaration of the "Kruševo Manifesto". It called for all the people ofMacedonia, regardless of their nationality and religion, to fight together against the Ottoman Empire in order to establish an independent Macedonianrepublic.[23][24] In the area there is a monument called Mečkin Kamen (Bear's Stone). This was the place wherePitu Guli's band (cheta) was trying to defend the town of Kruševo from the Turkish troops coming from Bitola. The band and their leader (voivode) are remembered as heroic defenders of Kruševo and the surrounding villages.
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Language and identity |
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As of the 2021 census, the town of Kruševo has 4,104 inhabitants and the ethnic composition was the following:[1]
| Year | Macedonian | Albanian | Turks | Romani | Aromanians | Serbs | Bosniaks | Others | Person for whom data are taken from administrative sources | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 4.273 | ... | ... | ... | 1.023 | ... | ... | 37 | 5,330 | |
| 2021 | 3.053 | 9 | ... | ... | 866 | 10 | 1 | 165 | 146 | 4,104 |
The official languages of the town are Macedonian and Aromanian. Kruševo is the only locality where Aromanian has any kind of official status. All other forms of recognition of the language in the world represent general, nationwide recognition in Albania and North Macedonia.
The religious composition of the town was the following:
Kruševo is a mountainous town. Situated at an altitude of 1,350 metres (4,430 ft), Kruševo is the highest town inNorth Macedonia. Kruševo is known for its 19th-centuryOttoman architecture. The town has old and more recent houses built in the style of old Macedonian architecture.
It is home toMečkin Kamen, a historical landmark which marks the spot of the uprising of 1903. On 2 August every year, it is one of the two sites of the traditional MacedonianDay of the Republic celebrations, which are attended by leading Macedonian political leaders.
Kruševo is also home toMakedonium monument, dedicated to the Ilinden Uprising and the Kruševo Republic and many museums of the Ilinden Uprising.
The town's galleries include an exhibit of 19th century icons and a memorial to Macedonian painterNikola Martinovski who was born in this town.
Because of its elevation, Kruševo is one of North Macedonia's winter sports destinations. Local football clubFK Pitu Guli was named after a local revolutionary leader and plays in theMacedonian Second League (East Division).
There is a project called "Kruševo ethno-town", supported by the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia, which was developed by a small group of enthusiasts. According to that project, Kruševo shall look like a town from the beginning of the 20th century where it was one of the centers of theIlinden Uprising in 1903, that led to the creation of the so-calledKruševo Republic. People will be dressed like Ottoman soldiers andIMARO revolutionaries. The project aims to make Kruševo a main tourist destination in five years.[26]
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{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) "Crușuva"The Uprising organised and led by TMORO was called on 2 August 1903, on St. Ilija's day, thus entering history with the name of "the Ilinden Uprising", while European diplomats called it "the Macedonian Revolution". The Ottoman Empire managed once again to suppress the Ilinden Uprising brutally, with much bloodshed, despite the mass support it had enjoyed and the liberation of a large portion of territory and three towns: Neveska, Klisura and Krushevo. In liberated Krushevo, the rebel government established itself as a republic, to be remembered in historiography and collective memory as the Krushevo Republic. The Republic, the first of its kind on the Balkans, represented a model of statehood for all of Macedonia and an expression of the revolutionary ideology of TMORO: the "Macedonian Independent Republic" would provide real freedom for the Macedonian people, including minorities, independence, economic, political, cultural and social development
On August 2, 1903, VMRO led the Macedonian peasantry in the Ilinden Uprising, named after the festival of the Prophet Elijah on which it began. This was one of the greatest events in the history of the Macedonian people. The high point of the Ilinden Revolution was the establishment of the Krushevo Republic in the town of Krushevo in central Macedonia. The leaders of the Krushevo Republic called on all the people of Macedonia, Moslems and Christians alike, to join them in fighting for an independent Macedonia.
The initial aim of the rising was to create an independent state in the vilayet of Monastir (Bitola), and then to extend the free area to the whole of Macedonia. The appeal was not only to the Slavs, but also to 'Turks, Albanians and Moslems' who suffered under the Ottoman yoke. A 'republic' was established in the town of Kruševo, but the revolt was ruthlessly suppressed after only eleven days.
Cities ofNorth Macedonia by population | ||
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