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41°31′04″N 20°57′56″E / 41.51778°N 20.96556°E / 41.51778; 20.96556

Kičevo Кичево (Macedonian) Kërçovë (Albanian)
Town
Kičevo
KičevoLocation within North Macedonia
Coordinates: 41°31′04″N 20°57′56″E / 41.51778°N 20.96556°E / 41.51778; 20.96556
Country	North Macedonia
Region	Southwestern
Municipality	Kičevo
Government
• Mayor	Fatmir Dehari (DUI)
Area
• Total	814.3 km (314.4 sq mi)
Population
• Total	27,076
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	6250
Area code	+389
Car plates	KI
Climate	Cfb

Kičevo (Template:Lang-mk [ˈkitʃɛvɔ] ; Template:Lang-al) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, located in a valley in the south-eastern slopes of Mount Bistra, between the cities of Ohrid and Gostivar. The capital Skopje is 112 km away. The city of Kičevo is the seat of Kičevo Municipality.

Name

The name of the city in Macedonian and other South Slavic languages is Kičevo (Кичево). The name of the city in Albanian is Kërçovë. It was originally known as Uskana among its Illyrian inhabitants. The city was later renamed by Slavs who migrated to the region in the 7th century AD. It is presumed that the present name of the town originates from the name of this settlement populated by the Slavic Brsjaci tribe. In Turkish, the city is known as Kırçova. Kicevo was first mentioned as Uskana (Ωξάνα in Ancient Greek) in the reign of Perseus, king of Macedon during the Third Macedonian War (171-169 BC). The next written record of the town did not come until 1018, under the name of Kitsabis or Kitsavis (sometimes slavicised as Kicavis), noted in one of the documents of the Byzantine emperor Basil II. Under the rule of Prince Marko it was known as Katin Grad, because Marko's sister was named Katina.

History

Medieval

Kičevo was noted in one of the documents of the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1018, and also mentioned by the Ohrid archbishop Theophilact in the 11th century.

Ottoman

When the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, Kičevo was turned into the military and administrative center of the region. Notable monument of that period is a clock tower built in the foothills of the nearby hill called Kichevsko Kale.

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Kičevo was part of the Manastir Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire.

The activities of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) in the region of Kičevo were initiated by the priest Josif from the monastery of Bogorodica Prečista near the city, supported by many teachers from the neighbouring villages. On August 2, 1903, the Christian citizens of Kičevo participated in the Ilinden Uprising, led by Arso Vojvoda and Yordan Piperkata.

Modern

In 1913 Kičevo and the whole region were incorporated in the Kingdom of Serbia. The city was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria during the First world war. It became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918. From 1929 to 1941, Kičevo was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

During World War II, Kičevo was occupied by forces from Fascist Italy and ceded to Albania. On September 9, 1943 after the Armistice of Cassibile, Macedonian and Albanian partisan units disarmed the Italian garrison and took temporary control of the city. Thus, Kičevo became the first city seized by the communist Partisans during the World War II in Macedonia. However, soon after the capitulation of Italy, Nazi Germany occupied that area. The Germans put Balli Kombëtar in charge of Albania under German rule. The city was finally seized by the Communists on November 15, 1944 after German retreat.

In 1945 the area was ceded to Communist Yugoslavia. In 1991 the city became part of the newly proclaimed Republic of Macedonia.

Demographics

In the 1467/68 Ottoman defter, Kićevo was divided into two mahallas (neighbourhoods): The Mahale-i Arnavut (Albanian neighbourhood), where the heads of families appear with symbiotic Albanian-Christian-Slavic anthroponomy, where it can be seen that all of the inhabitants appear to be of Albanian origin. The names are as follows: Bogdan, son of Progon; Mijo , son of Progon-it;(two Slavic names with two medieval Albanian names) Petri, son of Gjon; Jakin, son of Gjin; Stojan, son of Gjon; Gjin, son of Gjon; Gjergj, son of Gjin; (six blood relatives); Niksha the son of Gjergj; Petri, son of Niko; Pejo, son of Tushjo; Dimitri, son of Gjon; Vlakshin, son of Lesh-ko; Stojan son of Dança-s; Gjonn, son of Kosta; Todor, son of Kosta; Martin, son of Kosta; Nina, son of Todor; Todor, son of Kosta; Martin, son of Kosta; Nina, son of Todor; Todor son of Nikola; Gjura, son of Doda; ; Gjon, son of Doda; Oliver, son of Doda; Stançe son of Doda (four heads of family a blood relationship with their through their ancestor Doda); Gjuro, son of Martin; Gjuro, son of Blakor (Plakor); Todor, son of Dominiko; Nina, son of Gjergj; Stepan, son of Kala; Arnaut, old man; Kala, widow; Pali, no surname; Don-ço, the son of Niko; Mila, son of Rrap-ça; Ton-ko, the son of Rrap-ça.

The other mahalla was the Serbian neighbourhood. While many of the names appear to be of Slavic origin, a large number display signs of Slavic-Albanian symbiosis.

Modern

The municipality of Kičevo has 56,734 inhabitants, and the city 27,076. The largest ethnic group in the city of Kičevo is the Macedonians who constitute for 15,031 people (55.5%), followed by the Albanians with 7,641 people (28.2%), the Turks with about 2,406 (8.9%) and Roma with 4.9%.

Orthodox Christians made up 15,139 (55.9%) of the city's population according to the 2002 census, while Muslims were the second-largest religious group in the city, numbering 11,759 (43.4%).

The most common native languages are Macedonian (62.5%), Albanian (28.2%), Turkish (8.0%) and Romani 0.4%.

Culture

Albanian traditional clothing

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Kičevo and its surroundings maintain a unique composition of traditional Albanian clothing. Unlike the Albanian dialects of the region, the traditional clothing of the Albanians in Kičevo are unitary; rather, diversity is shown varying on gender, age, and situation:

• The lower part of men's clothing is characterised by the tirqe; the colour of the tirqe varied depending on age, as the youth usually wore white tirqe and the older men usually wore dark brown tirqe, which were coloured by the bark of alder trees. Black tirqe were usually worn by elderly men.
• The xhamadani (vest), mintani, strukja, xhylyni, brezi (belt), çarapët (socks) dhe kësula (caps) are made of wool, whereas the këmisha (shirt) was made of fabric. Depending on the economic situation, the këmisha could also be made with wiring and additional components; silk fabrics were also utilised, but the silk itself was cultivated in the region of Kičevo using silk butterflies that fed on mulberry leaves. Këmisha usually had embroidered collars that were made in a variety of styles. Shirt collars were embroidered with engravings that contained motifs of Illyrian origin, which have been observed on Illyrian architectural remains. These ornaments were also embroidered on the socks of both men and women, as well as on gloves.
• The Xhamadan (vest) was usually worn by the youth and was mostly used for solemn occasions. The xhamadan usually had two pockets, the upper part of which was used to store a pocket watch.
• The Brezi (belt) was not only used for decoration, but it was also a symbol of the level of burrni (manhood) of its wearer as well as to store tobacco and its related objects. The brezi of grown married women is usually tighter and typically white, decorated with a variety of ornaments. Young girls wore a black brez, and elderly women wore a reddish brez.
• The Struka was born by young and old alike during cold weather, and it had a part that hung from the back and arms that, when gathered over one's head, could function as a cap of sorts. The Xhylyni was mostly worn during periods of great frost, and was primarily worn by shepherds. Many kachaks also wore the xhylyni as it was very thick and protected them from the cold.
• The kësula (cap/hat) of the region have a unique form; most of the inhabitants of Kičevo wore a flat-top plis, like their fellow Albanians in Gostivar, Dibër and Struga, but there were also individuals who wore round-headed plisa. During cold weather, primarily red-coloured or reddish scarves were worn around the plis. The red colour was preferred by the Albanians of Kičevo as it symbolised blood, which the Albanians of Kičevo have historically shed much of.
• Traditionally, socks were knitted with three shtiza, but socks with one shtiza were worn for solemn occasions. The Gjylmysët were chords which were spun to hold the shullat, which were woollen cloths. The shulla were used to wrap the part of the leg below the knee, and were connected with the gjylmysë me kiska and the gjylmysë pa kiska. These accompanied the opinga (shoes).
• In place of tirqe, women wore nogajca and kameza, which were woven with special ornaments. the ornaments of kameza varied in beauty, decoration and use. The nogajca/nagajca had multiple forms, such as for differing days of the week, for festivities, for young girls, for grown women and for elderly women - this type of dress was dominant until around the 80's as traditional clothing. Nowadays, these are usually worn at weddings, particularly by young women. The peshterka are also worn on the lower limbs of women, and vary in colour depending on the age of the wearer; elderly women wore white peshterka, while young girls and wives wear red peshterka. Usually two peshterka are worn, one frontal piece which extends below the knee, and a posterior piece.
• Women's këmisha (shirt) consisted of two types; long këmisha and short këmishash called kousa. Wedding këmisha were usually heavily decorated with ornaments. Women's sleeves are wider in form, and decorated gloves would be worn up until the elbow. The end of shirts were usually decorated with beads of ribbons, called spëik, whereas the edges contained additional ornaments called badrra.
• Women wear a Jelek (vest), which had different forms, as well as a hyrk, a reddish cloth. On solemn occassions (particularly for brides), women wore a dollam, a rizja, paftja and a jelek. Wives in Kičevo traditionally kept long hair that was woven into tails that fall to the shoulders and then proceeded to divide into more tails that spread across the back and gather at the waist, where they would be tied to a single mexhdi sërme (a silver coin with precious stones). Below that are more precious stones, and finally the hair is released into a tufkë.
• Women wear a shami (headscarf), which exists in several forms. Depending on the occasion, a shami can be red or white, but white scarves are preferred.

Monuments

Monastery of St. Bogorodica Prečista (Monastery of Immaculate Mother of God) is a significant monastery near Kičevo. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the feast day of this monastery is "Mala Bogorodica", (Birthday of the Virgin Mary on the 21st of September). The monastery, dedicated to the Annunciation and lodgings for devout female monks, represents a medieval monastery that was known under the name Krninski monastery in the past.

This monastery is actually an important site for the study of common cult of Christians and Muslims because it is visited by believers from both religions. The reason of this common cult is due to the miraculous powers of the water source inside the monastery.

Another important monument is the monastery of St. George located in the vicinity of Kičevo.

There are also many important mosques from the Ottoman Empire's times of rule and from the Islamic population.

Sports

Local football club FK Napredok has spent several seasons in the Macedonian First Football League and KF Vëllazërimi 77 plays in the Macedonian Second League (West Division).

Notable people

• Besart Ibraimi, footballer
• Florian Kadriu, footballer
• Omer Kaleshi, painter
• Yoakim Karchovski, priest
• Vlatko Lozanoski, singer
• Vesna Milošević, former handballer
• Vlado Taneski, journalist and serial killer
• Saint Evnuvios, Paisios and Averikios

References

1. "Ancient Toponymies renamed by Slavs". history-of-macedonia.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
2. Atanasovski, Goran. "Kicevo - history & culture". travel2macedonia.com.mk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
3. Dalibor Brozović, Hrvatska enciklopedija, 1999, s.v. "Kičevo".
4. Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940-1945. I.B.Tauris. p. 271. ISBN 1-84511-104-4.
5. ^ Rexha, Iljaz (2011). "Vendbanimet dhe popullsia albane gjatë mesjetës në hapësirën e Maqedonisë së sotme: Sipas burimeve sllave dhe osmane". Gjurmime Albanologjike: Seria e Shkencave Historike (41–42): 104–105. Cite error: The named reference "Rexha178" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
6. Macedonian census, language and religion Archived 2014-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
7. Censuses of population 1948 - 2002 Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
8. Xheladini, Adem (2011). "COSTUMES OF KËRÇOVA - TRADITION OF DEDICATION TO CONTINUITY" (PDF). Journal of Institute Alb-Shkenca. 4: 703–707.
9. Dionigi Albera - Maria Couroucli (2013). I luoghi sacri comuni ai monoteismi, tra Cristianesimo, Ebraismo e Islam. Brescia: Morcelliana. pp. 15–34. ISBN 978-88-372-2657-2.

External links

• Kičevo web site - mk
• Kičevo web site - sq
• Kičevo portal web
• Information on Kicevo as part of the "New Economic Geography" map of the European Stability Initiative

v t e Cities of North Macedonia by population
50,000+	Bitola Kumanovo Prilep Skopje Tetovo
10,000+	Debar Delčevo Gevgelija Gostivar Kavadarci Kičevo Kočani Kriva Palanka Negotino Ohrid Probištip Radoviš Struga Strumica Sveti Nikole Štip Veles Vinica
2,000+	Berovo Bogdanci Demir Hisar Demir Kapija Kratovo Kruševo Makedonska Kamenica Makedonski Brod Pehčevo Resen Valandovo

• Kičevo
• Cities in North Macedonia