One-of-a-kind eternal light
I sing to myself the folk song “People are lining up dear mother, along Kriva River” there I am in the Kratovo region, right along Kriva River. The municipality of Kratovo with its diverse terrain configuration – from the lowest fields to high mountains – is set in the northeastern part of Macedonia.
It is characterized by moderately continental to mountain climate with moderately warm summers and moderately cold and wet winters. There are two bigger rivers running through its territory: Zletovska River and Kriva River. It is a beautiful landscape that improves the mood and there places to stop by and see. I think that it is particularly nice experience if this place is covered by bicycle.
The secret room in the Golden Town
On a high hill between the Kratovo villages of Dimonci and Konuh rises the old town of Big Gradishte. As early as the 6th century, little rooms, drainages, sewer, water tank, even stairs that still exist, were carved inside rocks. On the upper, flattened part there are remains of watch towers and town fortress, and on the most hardly accessible terrain, in the steep rocks, a sanctuary was made – a big room with a big entrance and a window.
From there, you can see the field, the village cemetery with the old demolished church and the surrounding hills. Under the fortress, south of Big Gradishte, is the church “St. John the Baptist”, built in 1955. It was built on the spot where the Town of Warriors, or the Golden Town as the locals call it, was discovered. To this day, next to the church there are remains from a collective grave and an old temple, made of green volcanic rock. Archaeologists believe the old church from the 6th century to be one of a kind in Macedonia with such form.
According to a legend, somewhere under the waters of Kriva River there is an entrance that leads to the secret room, which is located in the middle of the hill. There was a figure of a woman there in front of which an eternal light shines. Only early in the morning one can get to the secret room. The entrance is easy to find – it is where the ducks go.
From there, there must be a way to the underground town, under the Slavishko field in Kriva Palanka.
The legend says that the entrance of the fortress is near the Rakle Bridge on Kriva River, where I have already arrived. Across the bridge you get to the village of Dimonci, which is around 2km away from the old town.
The locals from the surrounding villages have their own myth about the site. A long time ago, in this region, a powerful king and his queen lived. They had only one daughter who was known for her cunningness, brightness and strong character. One day while they were eating, the princess choked and fell unconscious. The king and queen thought she was dead and ordered that a very big funeral was made in the locality now known as “Little Queen”, which is very close to the “Big Gradishte” locality in the village of Konjuh.
Seduced by the jewels that were placed in the eternal home of the “little queen” the gravediggers returned to rob the grave the night after the funeral. They took much of the jewelry, gifts, golden and silver coins. But when one of the gravediggers tried to take the necklace from the neck of the royal daughter, he was petrified to see that the girl was alive.
That confused the gravediggers and they started thinking whether they should let her live or kill her. If they let her live, they were done because she saw them robbing the grave. But killing an innocent man, especially a royal daughter, is not an easy thing to do. They decided not to kill her, but to take her to another kingdom, which they did. Her parents continued to live on in great sorrow thinking that their daughter was dead.
Returning from a trip, the king and the queen, who traded with rich countries from the East and the West, saw the royal town in flames.
While they were absent, their kingdom was robbed and burned. They watched as the flames swallowed the town and started crying. That place was named after their tears and is called “Plakalo”. Heartbroken for the second time because they lost everything they cared about, they could no longer stay here. They moved to Thessaloniki and there is a settlement there that is called “The Konjuh Settlement” to this day.
Cocev Rock – A sanctuary, an altar and an observatory
In the area of the village of Shopsko Rudare, near the Cocevci settlement and the village of Konjuh, is Cocev Rock – a volcanic rock that was a megalithic observatory in prehistoric times. The rock catches the eye of the viewer outright as it separates from the surrounding hills and it is interesting by itself. Cocev Rock, also known as The Cave with the locals, is located 25 km from Kratovo. There are several paths leading to it, but the most accessible is the asphalt road to Konjuh.
Along the road on your left you will see a rock that is different from its surrounding. On top of the rock there is a throne turned towards east from where you can see at point the sun and the moon rise and according to that, the solar calendar is created. Hundred meters east of Cocev Rock there are megaliths that served as solar and lunar targets.
The megaliths have additional engravings on them and large moon menus were found near them which confirm that Cocev Rock was a prehistoric observatory. Opposite the throne in the rock there are several seats as part of a sophisticated observatory from where the sun, the moon and the stars could be observed.
After the steep stairs that are all over the site there are several flat plateaus where interventions in the rocks can be seen. At one of the higher plateaus there are pools carved in the rock where water was collected. On both sides of the rock there are caves, which the locals call Small Cave and Big Cave, and sub-rocks, and all over the horizontally aligned surfaces there are visible recesses with the size of a stake.
“Cocev Rock and its value were discovered in 1971 by Dr. Dushko Aleksovski, French language professor and founder of The Rocky Art Center in Kratovo. His statements that Cocev Rock is the only site in the world that is a sanctuary, an altar and an observatory at the same time have caused controversies in Macedonian Archaeology and are a subject of debate to this day.
Officially, Cocev Rock is a location around which people lived since prehistoric times, through the Roman ages and probably until the mid-centuries, the ceramics fragments being a testimony to that. In the base of the rock there is an archaeological site where neolith, eneolith, Bronze Age and Roman Age findings have been registered, and on Cocev Rock there are visible interventions on the rocks with enough patina that is testimony to their age and the red-figured rocky painting with still an unknown date.
Cocev Rock, aside from being an archaeological complex, is also a tourist attraction visited by domestic and foreign tourists. The road to the site is pretty easy and accessible with a vehicle, but the rock itself is pretty dangerous to climb if you are not in good shape or don’t have basic alpine experience” – says Vasilka Dimitrovska, PhD in archaeology and a professional tour guide.
“A happy wedding” in Kuklica
About ten kilometers away from Kratovo is the village of Kuklica where an unavoidable place to visit is the stone “dolls” phenomenon. Kuklica is a small village on the right side of Kriva River, at an altitude of 430 to 700 meters.
The legend says that a long time ago a big tragedy happened in the village. A girl was very much in love with some boy, who married another girl, which made the disappointed girl curse the future husband and wife. Everything seemed to be fine at the wedding day: the in-laws gathered, as well as the other guests and the celebration started. At the moment when the bride and groom kissed, the curse started to work and all the people turned into stone.
The stone people from the wedding are a testimony to the pain and anger of the unfortunate girl. The locals call this place “A happy wedding” because the in-laws remained smiling and the bride and groom were turned into stone in a gentle embrace. The locals say that their ancestors tried to break the curse, but to no avail.
On the other hand, scientists claim that the stone figures were created 10 million years ago when there were still no people on this planet. The vertical erosion of the volcanic rocks created “dolls” higher than 10 meters, which dominate the peaceful surrounding to this day. As time went by, nature created masterpieces of them. Anyway, there is no “wedding” like this anywhere in the world and this place is protected by the Natural Rarities Agency within the Ministry of Environment.
The locals say that every 5-6 years there is a new figure showing up in the two sites that are divided by a hill, Upper and Lower settlement. The most striking are the bride and groom, joined by the brother in-law and the bridesmaid. They are the biggest ones and look into each other’s eyes.
