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Kičevo Кичево (Macedonian) Kërçovë (Albanian)
Town
Kičevo
Nickname: Uscana
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; Template:Lang-tr) 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.

Population

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%.

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 Uscana 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.

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

Uscana or Hyscana was a settlement of the Illyrian tribe of the Penestae in southern Illyria, modern Albania. Uscana or Hyscana was an ancient city of the Illyrian tribe Penestae. according to Jump up ^ Wilkes, J. J. The Illyrians, 1992, ISBN 0-631-19807-5, page 172, "... In midwinter 170/169 BC Perseus launched a successful raid on the Illyrian Penestae and captured their chief town Uscana ..."

Kicevo, also known as Uskana, is a city in the south-west of the FYR of Northern Macedonia. Kicevo was first mentioned in the second century BC, during the Roman wars with the king of Macedonia Perseus, named Uskana. This old name could not survive, but disappeared during the Slavic invasions and conquests, as did the twelve Roman castles near Kichevo. In addition to the old archeological traces, which prove the antiquity of the Albanian element (compare Arbanasi, Arbanisec, Arbanashki in the villages Atishta) we can also mention the Illyrian tombs in Zajas, Trojet in Kaleshe, Manastirishte and Arangjell. Despite the Slavic flood that occurred in these areas from the century. 7 and beyond and the savage Byzantine rule, the autochthonous Albanian element was not assimilated as a whole, but managed to preserve its strong core and thus survive the Middle Ages. Later in the second half of the 13th century, Kichevo came under Serbian rule for a century (1283-1394). With the beginning of Turkish rule, Kichevo also experiences the fate of other Balkan countries. It is important to mention that Kichevo during the Ottoman rule in the XIV century in its socio-economic structure had more Albanians with a wider geographical distribution than today. Ex. In the Turkish notebooks, the Albanian neighborhood with 71 houses is mentioned in Kichevo. The most accurate records can be found in the work of Sami Frashëri, Kamus al Alam 1889, where Kicevo is presented as the Sandzak kaza in the Manastir Vilayet.

The new period begins with the liberation of the Balkans from the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Kichevo to this day went through the new Slavic rulers, followed by great reprisals. The year 1913 for the people of Kichevo is a year of sadness. This is the year of a massacre against innocent people, against the elderly, women and children, who were cut down in mosques and burned in huts, or buried in mass graves, which have not yet been discovered. The Chetniks of Mikajl Brod and Boshko Virianec were distinguished in these crimes, under whose command the massacres in Qafë, Zajaz, Greshnica, Cërvicë, etc. were carried out. This terror and massacre is evidenced by the letter of a soldier, which on October 9, 1913 was published by "Radnicke novine" An episode in itself is the case of the village of Qafë by Chetnik gangs where according to accurate sources 92 villagers were killed. Seeing this massacre on the innocent population of the village especially her father Sultan Qafa takes the scissors of the data, goes up the stairs, kills the guard, seriously injures 3 bandits and thus creates an unprecedented commotion from where the bandits are forced to leave the village. Mazllam's father and daughter, Sultan Qafa, were also killed in a direct clash. With this heroic act, the Sultan can be counted among the heroines of the Albanian people. For this reason, Hamza Alili erected deserving monuments in her village of Qafa. Between the two wars, many villages around Kichevo were burned.

In 1921 the city of Kichevo had 28,228 of which 14,454 were listed as Slavic Orthodox and 13,774 of the Muslim faith. In 1994 Kichevo had 53044 inhabitants, of which 26310 Albanians, 20829 Macedonians, 3840 Turks, etc.

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.

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.

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.

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. Macedonian census, language and religion Archived 2014-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. Censuses of population 1948 - 2002 Archived 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Ancient Toponymies renamed by Slavs". history-of-macedonia.com. Archived from the original on 8 October 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
4. Atanasovski, Goran. "Kicevo - history & culture". travel2macedonia.com.mk. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
5. Dalibor Brozović, Hrvatska enciklopedija, 1999, s.v. "Kičevo".
6. Pearson, Owen (2006). Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940-1945. I.B.Tauris. p. 271. ISBN 1-84511-104-4.
7. 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