Kichevo

Overview

City overview

Meet Kichevo.

A grounded introduction to the city, its landscape, people, history and wider municipality.

Kichevo sits in a high, enclosed basin at the headwaters of the Treska, with Bistra, Ilinska and the Poreche mountains shaping every road out. At roughly 625–650 metres, the town is a natural western crossroads: north over Strazha, south toward Ohrid, southeast to Demir Hisar and east down the Treska valley.

A charter of Basil II records Kicavis in 1018, while Kitino Kale still watches over the modern centre from its low fortified hill. Ottoman Kırçova became a market and craft town; roads, the railway opened in 1952, mining and energy later turned it into a busy inland service centre.

The unified municipality counted 39,669 residents in 2021, including 23,428 in the city. Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish and Roma neighbours share the basin, heard in its markets, bakeries, schools, football clubs and religious calendar; that layered social life is as characteristic as any monument.

Since the 2013 merger, the municipality includes seventy-eight villages and the territories of former Drugovo, Vraneshtica, Zajas and Oslomej municipalities. Large communities such as Zajas, Srbica and Drugovo sit beside tiny mountain settlements, while places like Cer, Tajmishte, Izvor and Vraneshtica carry distinct histories within the same broad Kichevo homeland.

Geography

History

Interesting Facts

1. Kicavis in 1018

   The earliest secure written link to Kichevo is the name Kicavis in a charter issued by Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1018.

2. A four-direction road junction

   The basin sends roads north over Strazha, south to Ohrid, southeast to Demir Hisar and east along the Treska toward Makedonski Brod.

3. The railway arrived in 1952

   Completion of the Skopje–Kichevo railway strengthened mining and made the town an important western freight station.

4. Kitino Kale is now a town park

   The old fortified hill, where coins from the periods of Alexander the Great and Justinian were found, has been landscaped as a public park above the centre.

5. Prechista’s present church dates to 1850

   The monastery has older roots, but its present monumental church was built in the nineteenth century and preserves a major iconostasis, books and work connected with Dichi Zograf’s circle.

6. Five municipalities became one

   In 2013 Drugovo, Vraneshtica, Zajas and Oslomej were joined to Kichevo, creating today’s large municipality of seventy-nine settlements including the city.

7. A genuinely high urban basin

   The municipality places the town at 625–650 metres above sea level and many of its villages between 600 and more than 1,000 metres.

People

• Notable person Vlatko Lozanoski Kichevo-born pop singer who represented North Macedonia at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013.
• Notable person Goce Todorovski Kichevo-born stage, film and television actor with a long career in Macedonian comedy and drama.

• Vlatko Lozanoski Music

  Born and raised in Kichevo.

  Pop singer and songwriter who represented Macedonia at the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest with Esma Redzhepova.

  Source
• Kaliopi Music

  Born in Ohrid but raised in Kichevo, where her early musical identity took shape.

  Singer, composer and two-time Eurovision representative with a major career across the former Yugoslav region.

  Source
• Omer Kaleshi Visual art

  Born in 1932 in Srbica, now in Kichevo Municipality.

  Internationally exhibited Albanian, Macedonian and French painter especially known for his expressive heads.

  Source
• Goce Todorovski Performance

  Born in Kichevo in 1951.

  Stage, film and television actor with a long career in Macedonian comedy and drama.

  Source
• Mile Grozdanoski Performance

  Born in Kichevo in 1950.

  Film and television actor whose screen work included productions across Yugoslavia.

  Source
• Jakub Selimoski Religious life

  Born in Kichevo in 1946.

  Islamic scholar and cleric who served as the last Grand Mufti of Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1993.

  Source
• Florijan Kadriu Sport

  Born in Kichevo in 1995 and developed with Zajazi.

  Professional football forward with club experience in North Macedonia, Albania, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.

  Source
• Angel Tanasov History

  Born around 1850 in Cer, now a village in Kichevo Municipality.

  Nineteenth-century rebel leader active in the struggles of the western Macedonian region.

  Source

Villages & Monasteries

78 villages and rural settlements are included.

• Arangel A village in the unified Kichevo Municipality. Source
• Atishta A small rural settlement in the Kichevo region. Source
• Bachishta A village close to the western side of Kichevo. Source
• Belica A mountain village in the southern part of the municipality. Source
• Berikovo A village in the wider Kichevo basin. Source
• Bigor Dolenci A small village in the former Drugovo area. Source
• Brzhdani A rural settlement in the municipality’s southern country. Source
• Bukojchani A village north of Kichevo in the Strazha approaches. Source
• Chelopeci A village in the Kichevo basin. Source
• Cer A high southern village with deep historical associations and traditional stone-built surroundings. Source
• Crvivci A village near Kichevo in the former Oslomej area. Source
• Dlapkin Dol A small settlement in the unified municipality. Source
• Dolna Dushegubica A mountain village in the former Drugovo territory. Source
• Dolno Dobrenojec A rural settlement in southern Kichevo Municipality. Source
• Dolno Strogomishte A village in the basin’s western part. Source
• Drugovo A large village and the seat of a former municipality merged into Kichevo in 2013. Source
• Dupjani A small village in the Kichevo countryside. Source
• Garani A village in the former Oslomej municipal area. Source
• Golemo Crsko A southern mountain village paired by name with Malo Crsko. Source
• Gorna Dushegubica A high mountain settlement in the former Drugovo area. Source
• Gorno Dobrenojec A small southern village in the municipality. Source
• Gorno Strogomishte A village in the western Kichevo basin. Source
• Greshnica A sizeable village near Kichevo in the former Oslomej area. Source
• Ivanchishta A small village in southern Kichevo Municipality. Source
• Izvor A village in the upper Treska basin, its name reflecting the region’s springs. Source
• Jagol A village in the northern Kichevo country. Source
• Jagol Dolenci A rural settlement associated with the Jagol area. Source
• Javorec A small mountain village in the former Drugovo territory. Source
• Ehloec A remote mountain village in the municipality’s southern part. Source
• Judovo A small village in the Kichevo region. Source
• Karbunica A village west of the city in the Kichevo basin. Source
• Kladnik A mountain settlement in the municipality’s southern country. Source
• Klenoec A village in the former Drugovo area. Source
• Knezhino A village above Kichevo associated with the Monastery of St George. Source
• Kolari A village on the southern route from Kichevo. Source
• Kolibari A settlement close to Kichevo’s urban edge. Source
• Kozica A remote eastern mountain village in the Treska watershed. Source
• Kozichino A mountain village in the municipality’s eastern country. Source
• Krushica A small rural settlement in Kichevo Municipality. Source
• Lavchani A village near Kichevo in the basin’s settled core. Source
• Lazarovci A small village in the wider Kichevo basin. Source
• Leshnica A rural settlement in the municipality. Source
• Malkoec A village in the southern, former Drugovo area. Source
• Malo Crsko A southern mountain village paired by name with Golemo Crsko. Source
• Mamudovci A village in the former Zajas area. Source
• Manastirsko Dolenci The village associated with the Kichevska Prechista monastery landscape. Source
• Midinci A small village in the Kichevo region. Source
• Miokazi A village near the city in the basin’s northern part. Source
• Novo Selo A village in the unified Kichevo Municipality. Source
• Orlanci A rural settlement in the former Oslomej area. Source
• Oslomej A former municipal seat known for the nearby lignite and power complex. Source
• Osoj A village in the Kichevo basin. Source
• Papradishte A small rural settlement in the municipality. Source
• Patec A mountain village in the former Drugovo territory. Source
• Podvis A historic village in the southern Kichevo region. Source
• Popoec A village in the former Drugovo area. Source
• Popolzhani A sizeable village in the Treska basin south of Kichevo. Source
• Popovjani A village in the Kichevo countryside. Source
• Premka A rural settlement close to Kichevo. Source
• Prostranje A mountain village in the eastern part of the municipality. Source
• Rabetino A village in the wider Kichevo basin. Source
• Rashtani A settlement adjoining Kichevo’s urban area. Source
• Rechani-Chelopechko A small village distinguished from the municipality’s other Rechani by its Chelopeci association. Source
• Rechani-Zajasko A village in the former Zajas municipal area. Source
• Srbica A large, culturally significant village and birthplace of painter Omer Kaleshi. Source
• Srbjani A sizeable village southeast of Kichevo. Source
• Staroec A village in the former Drugovo territory. Source
• Strelci A sizeable village west of Kichevo. Source
• Shutovo A village in the former Oslomej area. Source
• Svetorache A rural settlement in the southern municipality. Source
• Svinjishte A small village in the Kichevo region. Source
• Tajmishte A northern village on the mountain route toward Strazha and Gostivar. Source
• Trapchin Dol A settlement close to Kichevo in the basin’s core. Source
• Tuin A large western village and local centre in the former Zajas territory. Source
• Vidrani A village in the former Drugovo area. Source
• Vraneshtica A village and former municipal seat merged into Kichevo in 2013. Source
• Zajas A major village and former municipal seat northwest of Kichevo. Source
• Zhubrino A village in the eastern part of Kichevo Municipality. Source

Photo Gallery (35)

• Red-tiled rooftops and apartment blocks of Kichevo spread across a green valley, seen through tree branches with mountains behind.
• A wide Kichevo boulevard with a grass strip down the middle, parked cars and tall apartment blocks, and green mountains ahead.
• Kichevo: a cream-coloured hotel-style building with pointed red gables and arched ground-floor windows, above a stone retaining wall.
• A broad pink-paved pedestrian street in Kichevo, with cafe awnings on the left, autumn leaves, double street lamps and a glass-fronted building at right.
• A snowy road in Kichevo lined with frosted trees and tall curved street lamps under a pale winter sky.
• Kichevo at night: lit streets and parked cars below apartment buildings, with scattered lights on the dark hillside above.
• A small stone church in Kichevo with a domed tower topped by a cross and grey metal roofs, set among trees under a blue sky.
• Kichevo seen from a hillside: red-roofed houses in the foreground, rows of apartment blocks beyond and steep green mountains behind.
• An old steam locomotive and green carriages displayed beside a road in Kichevo, with pine trees, shops and a misty wooded hill behind.
• An aerial view down a long avenue in Kichevo, with a green central reservation, cars, apartment blocks and red-tiled roofs on both sides.
• A busy, rain-wet Kichevo market street seen from above, crowded with people under coloured umbrellas and market stalls between cars and tiled roofs.
• A long street in Kichevo at night, its lamps glowing in rows over parked cars, with apartment buildings on either side.
• An aerial view of Kichevo showing a round, dark wooded hill ringed by a road, with red-roofed houses and apartment blocks around it.
• A low row of pitched-roof buildings in Kichevo at the foot of a pine slope heavy with snow, with a few vehicles parked in front.
• Kichevo football supporters waving and throwing paper confetti behind a fence at a stadium, with large blue-and-white banners and a hillside behind.
• A pink-paved pedestrian area in Kichevo, with a tall street lamp, a red car, a row of cream apartment buildings with red roofs and a few people walking.
• A white church in Kichevo with a tall stone bell tower topped by a small dome and cross, behind a stone wall and bare spring trees.
• A Kichevo street at night, lit in green and amber, with cafe umbrellas and tables at left and shopfronts with awnings at right.
• A large cream house with a snow-covered roof behind an iron fence in Kichevo, with a street lamp and a road thick with snow.
• Close-up of Kichevo's red-tiled roofs and mixed houses climbing a wooded hillside, with a minaret rising at the upper right.
• A white mosque in Kichevo with a tall minaret, a domed roof and a small domed porch with wrought-iron railings, under a cloudy sky.
• A pale apartment block in Kichevo with balconies, with snow-laden fir trees in front of it and snow still falling.
• A snow-dusted Kichevo square at night, lit by a bright white lamp and an orange one, with a green-lit building and a small kiosk.
• Kichevo seen from a hilltop: a dense carpet of red-tiled roofs across the valley floor, with forested mountains rising behind.
• A grassy lane in Kichevo beside old white houses with timber upper floors and balconies, flower boxes at the windows and a stone base wall.
• A Kichevo square at night, lit amber, with ornate street lamps in front of an arched two-storey stone building.
• Kichevo seen across green trees, with red-roofed houses and a broad roofed hall in the town and a large mountain rising behind.
• An aerial view of Kichevo with a round wooded hill and a white oval clearing in the foreground, and dense town streets beyond.
• A tree-lined avenue running through Kichevo, with a green strip between the carriageways and apartment blocks and red roofs on either side.
• A broad Kichevo road with a grassy central strip, a few cars and trees, running toward a steep green mountain.
• Kichevo: a large cream-coloured building with red gabled roofs, balconies and arched windows on a stone terrace, with a wooded hillside behind.
• Kichevo: Sultan Bayazit Mosque, a white building with a red-tiled roof, dome and minaret, hills behind.
• Kichevo: a paved street of old shopfronts and upper balconies, with people walking past.
• Kichevo: an old abandoned house with peeling pink plaster, a weathered wooden balcony and a tiled roof.
• Kichevo: the centre of town, a paved square with cafe umbrellas, shops and red-roofed buildings.