In touch with Macedonia’s roots
Geographically and ethnographically, “Veles is the central town of Macedonia”. That is the determinant that the great Macedonian teacher Krste Petkov Misirkov gave in 1903 in the “golden book of Macedonism” – “About the Macedonian things”. The town has a very good geographical setting – little over 41 degrees latitude and over 21 degrees – longitude, at an altitude of 175 meters. It has always been beneficial: Veles was a crossroad throughout the centuries between the European North and South, between Rome and Constantinople, between the Old continent and the Orient. Historical, revivalist, revolutionary – that is Veles.
This is where the first school in Macedonian was open, as well as the first gymnasium, theater, library, museum and the first music school in our country. Some say that the first pool table in the Balkans was brought here. It exists since 168 B.C. as an urban settlement. It has changed the name throughout its history and today’s is connected to the Slavs, because of the Slavic “v les” which means “in forest” (because of the dense forest that surrounds the town), and according to other sources, it is because of the Slavic god of the herds – Veles.
The big bronze of Gordian, the emperor, forged in 241 was the first discovered evidence of the town’s existence, and the coins of Teodosij I are a testament to its existence in the 4th and the 5th centuries.
It is set over little hills with densely built houses, as if they are one over another, with little streets going through them which lead to the town’s center and its exits. The people rarely drive cars and use the public transport even less. They enjoy walking. Besides, everything is within their reach, only 40 minute of walking away.
The older people remember walking from home to the center or the park even twice a day, something that many of them still do. The morning walk to the park, to the river, to the shops was “obligatory”. The older people did the shopping; those in love would secretly meet. Some played backgammon in the park; other had long talks, etc.
At night everybody would go at the promenade. Two times round the promenade first, and then everybody went their way. There are several answers to every question about visiting Veles. Every now and then I will hear the fascinating performance of the folk song about Mile Pop Jordanov by the great Dutch choir in the Doesburg cathedral. I have chills all over my body; my hair stiffens as the hedgehog’s spines and I start crying every time I listen to them, as well as when I listen or read the song “Lenka”, written by the intellectual potter from Veles, Kosta Solev Racin, who took the surname of his great, but unreturned love as his own.
Veles is a town of sad songs and the Macedonian self-sacrifice. A town of the Gemidzii, young idealists who decided to die for their country, for freedom and human rights. They set on achieving great results with sacrificing few lives. Their own lives! They made the famous Thessaloniki assassinations to get the world’s attention about Macedonia’s faith and they swore not to be caught alive by the enemy. During the action, the head of the group Jordan Pop Jordanov killed himself.
Veles is also the town of poet Kole Nedelkovski, born in the village of Vojnica. When the police tried to arrest him in his apartment in Sophia in 1941, ten days after his second book was published, he jumped out of the window.
One has to come to Veles to learn that there is something above life – death. But Veles has an open heart that is a testament to the Macedonian cosmopolitism, ever since Alexander the Great. Racin wrote “Even though I did not build a house with high gates, the whole brotherly world is my house”. With every thought of this town, of my friends, the actors from Veles Dampe, Aco, Vitanov, Slobodanka, Mladen, Vesna, Zafirchev, my friend from faculty Kocevski, and many others, there is a need waking in me to go to Veles.
It is a 40 minute drive away from Skopje. Many prefer taking the motorbike on the road, but I think that traveling by train is much more poetic. It is because of the beautiful landscapes you see on the way, because of the conversations which seem to be mandatory with the curious people from Veles that will inform you to the smallest detail about things that don’t even interest you, but they also ask about things that you wonder why they would be interested in. That is because in the train they feel the same as they do in their living rooms. I also prefer taking the train because the time has stopped at the railway station in Veles, which makes you feel nostalgic and tells stories about farewells.
Veles is an important cultural and historical center in Macedonia, filled with hope and laughter. The city of Misirkov’s friends, the brothers Dimitrija Chupovski and Nace Dimov who laid the foundations of the modern Macedonian country, along with Misirkov. It is the city of Djinot, connected to the beginnings of the modern Macedonian theater; the city of Vasil Glavinov, the first socialist in the Balkans; the founder of the modern Macedonian poetry, Kocho Racin; the great builder Andreja Damjanov; the poet Rajko Zhinzifov; the revolutionary Petar Pop Arsov; the fighters for freedom Jovan Naumov Alabakot and Andrea Dimov Dokurchev; the great painter Dimitar Andonov Papradishki; the city of Panko Brashnar, who opened the first session of ASNOM; the professor Dr. Georgi Shoptrajanov, whose books of French grammar are used all over the world; the great actor Petre Prlichko; the musicians Stefan Gajdov and Zhivko Firfov; singer Marina Churuvija; etc. It is impossible to count every important Macedonian that came from Veles.
“In Veles, I learned what it is to get together with your friends, how to listen to old folk music, how to read poetry, how to respect the tradition, to love the past and wait for the future, how to walk for kilometers without it bothering you, etc.” – according to the confession of a young man from Skopje.
There is a tempting recommendation on sightseeing the town at the website of the Municipality of Veles. Start from the entrance near the highway and visit the small churches near the crossroad. The road opposite them leads to the memorial of the fighters from the civil with a great view of the town. The monument is in the shape of poppy flower, and walls are decorated by the biggest mosaic in Macedonia, made by Petar Mazev.
You can continue downwards to the settlement called Varnaliite and visit the small church of St. George, or see the beautiful old houses. Further down towards the river Vardar you will get to the old town core where you will find the green market, the bus station, the Gemidjii Bridge and their 6.5 meter-high monument made by sculptor Stanko Pavleski. There you will remember their names written on the plaque along with their message “We waste ourselves for Macedonia!”
You can rest and refresh yourselves at one of the restaurants by the river Vardar. Veles is known for the delicious barbeque and the pie called pastrmajlija. Then you can see the 16th century Clock tower in the town’ center, from where the pedestrian bridge can be seen. Continue towards Racin’s house, built from stone, with a high roof, where some of his original transcripts are kept. From here, you can continue to the “Ilinden” memorial, visit the Museum and the Art salon which is near the contemporary Youth park, where you will find the new, grandiose church of the Saints Cyril and Methodius. The iconostasis, painted with biblical motives, is 10 meters high and 5 meters wide. It was made by the famous master Ljubomir Bisin.
The new theater is also in the center of Veles, and on the opposite side of the park there are coffee bars and restaurants. You could also use the walk in the park along Vardar.
Further down towards the river is the mosque, and in the old part of the town on the left side of the river, through narrow streets you can get to the church of the Holy Mother of God, also known as Vlach church. The son of Andreja Damjanov, one of the most famous builders of sacred objects throughout the Balkans, Damjan and his group did the finishing work on it. From there upwards is the church of The Ascension, built in the 14th and restored in the 19th century. It is famous for the icons of Noah and the Saints Peter and Paul. The tomb of the revivalist Jordan Hadjikonstantinov – Djinot is in the church’s yard.
At the other side of the river are the memorial houses of the Kasapovi family, also known as the floating house; Djinot’s – made of crushed stone, with a yellow façade, wooden pillars and a wooden fence, and the house was declared a monument of culture; and Glavinov’s house. The house of the first socialist in Macedonia is a museum dedicated to his life and work. It is considered one of the most beautiful marks of the old Veles architecture. Nearby is the church of St. Pantelemon - a pearl of the sacred architecture in the Balkans. It was built in 1840 by Andreja Damjanov and his brothers. Part of the decorative elements was made in byzantine style, while others are baroque. The church is famous for the wonderful acoustics – the result of incorporation of pottery inside the walls, as well as the usage of egg shells in the mortar.
You can finish the walk along the right side of Vardar, in the direction of Gradsko, by visiting the churches of Saint Anna; the monastery of Saint Demetrius which was built in the 14th century and buried for 469 years during the ottoman ruling; the monastery of the Venerable Parasceva with its striking interior in which there is a natural spring, believed to be healing; the churches of Saint Nicholas and Saint Kyriaki, with the Kale nearby with its great panorama of the town. Further south along the flow of Vardar is the river Babuna. Along Babuna’s flow, in the area of Peshti there are 50 caves and few cave churches. Peshti was declared a characteristic natural landscape, which is a further motive to visit it.
In the immediate proximity of Veles is the artificial lake Mladost, the favorite place for recreation for the people of Veles and Skopje. It is surrounded by pine forests and good restaurants.
Now, let me ask you again: Why should you come to Veles? So you can reach Macedonia’s roots.
Goce Ristovski
Folge uns