Veles

Overview

City overview

Meet Veles.

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

Veles rises in pale stone and tiled roofs from both banks of the Vardar, near the geographical centre of North Macedonia. The older neighbourhoods climb steeply above the river between roughly 150 and 260 metres, while the Topolka and Babuna valleys open toward villages, reservoirs and low mountains. Road and rail routes make the city a natural national crossroads.

Its layered urban landscape includes old merchant houses, narrow hillside streets, churches, a clock tower and monuments to the Gemidzhii. The city is especially bound to poet Kocho Racin: his memorial house and the Racin Meetings keep literature part of Veles's civic identity rather than a chapter that ended with the past.

The 2021 census counted 40,664 residents in Veles and 48,463 in the municipality. The industrial legacy is complicated, including years of pollution and public environmental struggle, but the city also carries a vigorous cultural and sporting life through theatre, visual art, football and an unusually deep tradition of kayaking and canoeing.

Twenty-nine villages now form the municipality under its current planning boundary. Gorno Orizari and Buzalkovo are the largest, Bashino Selo meets the northern urban edge, and Otovica faces Lake Mladost. Many smaller settlements have only a few residents, so Veles serves both as a transport city and as the daily centre of a large, changing rural hinterland.

Geography

History

Interesting Facts

1. A central river-and-rail junction

   Veles occupies a strategic position on the Vardar and on the country's principal north-south road and railway corridor, about 54 kilometres from Skopje.

2. A city built on two steep banks

   Historic neighbourhoods climb from both sides of the Vardar through an elevation range of roughly 150 to 260 metres, creating Veles's characteristic terraced skyline.

3. Three waters define the municipality

   The Vardar, Topolka and Babuna are the principal rivers, while the Lisiche reservoir is a crucial part of the municipal water-supply system.

4. The name Titov Veles lasted half a century

   The city officially carried the name Titov Veles from 1946 until 1996, when the historic shorter name was restored.

5. Kocho Racin still anchors civic culture

   The poet's memorial house and the Racin Meetings literary event make his work, especially White Dawns, a living part of the city's cultural calendar.

6. Old Veles survives in houses and landmarks

   House museums, traditional hillside architecture, the clock tower and the Gemidzhii memorial form a compact record of the city's urban history.

7. Lake Mladost is a sporting landscape

   The reservoir north of the city is used for recreation, outdoor events and organized kayaking and canoeing.

8. Kayak slalom remains a local strength

   The municipality named kayak-slalom athlete Angel Petrushev its leading athlete for 2024, reflecting a sporting tradition visible across generations.

9. A smaller city than in 2002

   The census population of Veles fell from 43,716 in 2002 to 40,664 in 2021; the municipality recorded 48,463 residents in 2021.

People

• Notable person Kocho Racin Veles-born poet and activist whose White Dawns became a foundational work of modern Macedonian literature.
• Notable person Jordan Hadzi Konstantinov-Dzinot Veles-born nineteenth-century teacher, writer and dramatist active in education and the cultural revival.

• Kocho Racin Literature

  Born in Veles; his memorial house and the Racin Meetings are major city institutions.

  Poet, essayist and political activist whose collection White Dawns is a landmark of modern Macedonian literature.

  Source
• Jordan Hadzhi Konstantinov-Dzhinot Education and literature

  Born in Veles.

  Nineteenth-century educator, writer and theatre advocate associated with the Macedonian cultural revival.

  Source
• Vasil Glavinov History

  Born in Veles.

  Early socialist organizer and labour activist whose work belongs to the region's modern political history.

  Source
• Panko Brashnarov History

  Born in Veles.

  Teacher, revolutionary and prominent participant in the first session of ASNOM, later persecuted by the Yugoslav authorities.

  Source
• Rajko Zhinzifov Literature

  Born in Veles.

  Nineteenth-century poet, translator and cultural revival figure who worked across several languages and intellectual worlds.

  Source
• Petre Prlichko Performance

  Born in Veles.

  Influential stage and film actor remembered for a long career in Macedonian and Yugoslav theatre and cinema.

  Source
• Pepi Manaskov Sport

  Born in Veles.

  Former international handball player and coach whose career included clubs in North Macedonia and abroad.

  Source
• Goran Petreski Sport

  Born in Veles.

  Former professional footballer who represented North Macedonia internationally.

  Source
• Angel Petrushev Sport

  A Veles athlete named the municipality's top athlete for 2024.

  Kayak-slalom athlete recognized for leading competitive results in the city's signature water sport.

  Source
• Lenche Andreevska Sport

  Named a municipal sports ambassador in the 2024 Veles sports awards.

  Football figure recognized for representing and promoting Veles through sport.

  Source

Villages & Monasteries

29 villages and rural settlements are included.

• Bashino Selo A large settlement on the northern edge of Veles, with 750 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Beleshtevica A small municipal settlement with 4 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Buzalkovo One of the municipality's two largest villages, with 1,614 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Vetersko A small village with 3 residents recorded in 2021 and a historical Saint John monastery. Source
• Gorno Kalaslari A rural settlement with 50 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Gorno Orizari The municipality's largest village in the 2021 census, with 1,723 residents. Source
• Dolno Kalaslari A substantial village with 410 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Dolno Orizari A current municipal settlement with no resident population recorded in the 2021 census. Source
• Ivankovci A large rural settlement with 639 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Karabunjishte A current municipal settlement with no resident population recorded in the 2021 census. Source
• Klukovec A current municipal village with 311 residents recorded in 2021; newer planning documents include it in Veles Municipality. Source
• Krushje A current municipal settlement with no resident population recorded in the 2021 census. Source
• Kumarino A rural settlement with 52 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Lugunci A current municipal settlement with no resident population recorded in the 2021 census. Source
• Mamutchevo A village with 234 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Novachani A small rural settlement with 1 resident recorded in 2021. Source
• Novo Selo A current municipal settlement with no resident population recorded in the 2021 census. Source
• Oraovec A small village with 24 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Otovica A village beside the Lake Mladost landscape, with 315 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Rashtani A village close to Veles with 257 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Rlevci A small rural settlement with 9 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Rudnik A small municipal settlement with 9 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Slivnik A substantial village with 677 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• S'lp A small rural settlement with 16 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Sojaklari A village with 125 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Sopot A small rural settlement with 12 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Crkvino A substantial village with 353 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Chaloshevo A rural settlement with 209 residents recorded in 2021. Source
• Dzidimirci A small municipal settlement with 2 residents recorded in 2021. Source

Photo Gallery (35)

• Veles at dusk: a cable-stayed footbridge over the river, an orange-lit tower on the hillside and benches and a lamp on the embankment.
• Red-tiled houses covering a long hillside in Veles, seen from above with a green river bank and distant mountains.
• A tall white statue of a robed figure with one arm raised, on a round stepped plinth in a Veles park with weeping willows and a flag behind.
• An old Veles house with white walls, dark timber balconies and a tiled roof, above a stone wall with a clay-tiled cap.
• A Veles street seen from above, with cars passing beside rows of brick and cream apartment blocks and bare trees along the pavement.
• A lit fountain in Veles at night, with jets of water coloured red, blue and green and onlookers standing behind the pool.
• A bronze statue of a rider on a horse on a stone plinth in a Veles roundabout, with apartment blocks and shopfronts along the street.
• Veles hillside houses with red tiled roofs below a bare ridge, with a stone clock tower rising above the roofs at the right.
• A white concrete monument in Veles with curving wing-like walls above a long flight of stone steps, against a deep blue sky.
• A bronze equestrian statue on a stone plinth at the centre of a flower-ringed roundabout in Veles, with shops and apartment buildings around it.
• Veles seen from a height, with dense houses and apartment blocks in the foreground and snow-capped mountains behind.
• A small white church with a red-tiled roof and a tall bell tower beside a white house, set on grass below a bare mountain in Veles.
• Veles apartment blocks and red-roofed low houses among trees under a blue sky with scattered cloud, with hills on the horizon.
• Veles at night, with bright green-lit streets and houses on the slope above a lit suspension footbridge over the river.
• A round plaza in Veles with a white statue on a stepped circular base, flower beds, a park to one side and a road looping around.
• A broad view of Veles with a dense sweep of red roofs below pale bare hills, a river bend and green trees in the foreground.
• A white church in Veles with a long arcade, domed roofs and a small belfry, with a small blue car parked in front.
• A fountain in a paved Veles plaza with tall jets of water, a lamp post and autumn-coloured trees behind.
• A stone clock tower with a pointed lantern roof in Veles, lit orange at its base, against a dark stormy sky and distant hills.
• A concrete apartment tower and a long white shop building beside a roundabout in Veles, with parked cars and a mountain behind.
• A tall, narrow white monument rising from a grassy hillside in Veles, reached by a few stone steps, with a cloudy sky behind it.
• A wide stretch of river in Veles flowing between tree-covered banks, with hills in the haze beyond.
• A tree-lined street in Veles with parked cars and old and new buildings, with a clock tower visible at the far end.
• Veles houses with red roofs stacked above the river bank, with hazy mountains behind and a stone retaining wall at the water's edge.
• A small white chapel with a red roof and a bell cote built into a sheer rock face near Veles, with green shrubs below.
• A footbridge on slender cables over the river at Veles in dim light, with benches on the embankment and the hillside town beyond.
• A roundabout with a grass centre in Veles, with cars circling, apartment towers, a long white building and hillside houses behind.
• A Veles boulevard seen from above, with parked cars, apartment buildings and bare trees, and tall blocks hazy in the distance.
• A white statue of a robed figure with an outstretched arm on a plinth in a Veles park, with weeping willows and a red flag behind.
• Veles on a hillside below a bare green summit, with red roofs behind a screen of tall trees and a few blocks of flats.
• Veles: a stone clock tower rising above hillside houses with red roofs, a wooded hill behind.
• Veles: the Goce Delčev Local Library, a red building beside a flight of steps, with a flag on a pole.
• Veles: a road with a level-crossing sign, with tiers of red-roofed houses climbing the hillside.
• Veles: a metal sculpture honouring the Gemidzii, tangled steel rods rising over a round base.
• Veles: Ottoman architecture, a yellow house front with iron balconies and carved wooden pillars.