Prilep

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Prilep Прилеп
Panorama of Prilep from Marko's Towers
Flag
Nickname(s): "the city under Marko's Towers"
Prilep Location in the Republic of Macedonia
Coordinates: 41°20′N 21°35′E / 41.333°N 21.583°E / 41.333; 21.583
Country	Republic of Macedonia
Municipality	Prilep Municipality
Government
- Mayor	Marjan Risteski
Area
- City	1,194.44 km2 (461.2 sq mi)
Elevation	+620 m (2,034 ft)
Population (2002)
- City	66,246
- Density	64.27/km2 (166.5/sq mi)
- Metro	79,834
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
Postal codes	7500
Area code(s)	389 048
Patron saints	Saint Nicholas
Website	http://www.Prilep.gov.mk

Prilep (Macedonian: Прилеп, [ˈprilɛp] (help·info)) is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of King Marko.

Name

The name of the city in different languages is:

• Aromanian: Parleap
• Greek: Πρίλαπος
• Serbian: Прилеп
• Turkish: Pirlepe or Perlepe
• Bulgarian: Прилеп

Geography

Prilep covers 1,675 km² (647 sq mi) and is located in the northern Pelagonia plain, in southern Macedonia. Prilep is the seat of a municipality with the same name (Prilep municipality) and is accessed by the M5/E65. It is only 128 km (80 mi) (airline) from the capital Skopje, 44 km (27 mi) from Bitola, and 32 km (20 mi) from Kruševo.

Economy

Prilep is a center for high-quality tobacco and cigarettes and the metal processing, electronic, timber, textiles, and food industries. The city also produces a large quantity of Macedonian Bianco Sivec(pure white marble).

Tobacco is one of Prilep's traditional cash crops and prospers in the Macedonian climate. Many of the world's largest cigarette makers use Prilep's tobacco in their cigarettes after it is processed in local factories. A Tobacco Institute is established in the city in order to produce new types of tobacco and it was the first example of applying genetics to agriculture in the Balkans.^{[citation needed]}.

People

The overwhelming majority of the city population is Macedonian; the Macedonian population at the last census counted 64,527. There is also Roma minority, counting some 4,421 inhabitants, also Serbs (315)and Turks (254 ). There were risen ethnic tensions between Macedonian majority and small Albanian community in the city and the region, especially after the unfortunate event that took place during the 2001 Macedonia conflict when ten young soldiers from Prilep were killed in the civil war by Albanian insurgents.

History

A postcard of Prilep in 1915

Prilep was founded on the ruins of the ancient city of Styberra, first a town in Macedon and later incorporated into the Roman Empire. Styberra, though razed by the Goths in 268, remained partly inhabited. The town was first mentioned as Prilep in 1014, as the place where Tsar Samuil allegedly had a heart attack upon seeing thousands of his soldiers had been blinded by the Byzantines after the Battle of Kleidion. It was then retaken by the Second Bulgarian Empire until it was conquered by the Ottomans. The Kingdom of Prilep was one of the short lived states that emerged from the collapse of the Serbian Empire in the 14th century.^[1] Prilep was under Istanbul's control for six centuries; later, it became part of Yugoslavia and then broke away with the Republic of Macedonia in 1991.

Culture

The mountain over Prilep -Zlatovrv

• One of the most important institutions in the city is The Institute of Old Slavic Culture.
• Center of Contemporary Visual Arts - An art colony, hosted in the center of Prilep in the Center of Contemporary Visual Arts. The Colony has been founded in 1957 by the archaeologist Prof. PhD. Boško Babić, but organized by the initiative of Prof. PhD. Boško Babić and the academic painter - Prof. Risto Lozanovski, making it perhaps one of the oldest colonies in Southeastern Europe and the oldest one on the Balkans, for sure. It hosts painters and sculptors (working in marble, metal and wood) every year and, periodically it also hosts workshops and Symposia for vitrage (glass design), mosaics, photography, graphics and clay, from various countries around the world. The collection of sculptures carved in woods, was acknowledged as a cultural heritage by the most relevant criticizers and opinion makers. This is year (2007) it's the 50-th Anniversary of the Colony.
• Every year in October the International Children's Music Festival "Asterisks" brings together children from all over the world.
• Every year the Professional Theater Festival of Macedonia, honoring Vojdan Chernodrinski, who was born in village Selci near Struga and Debar.
• The Monastery of Zrze and the Monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael which has 12th and 14th century frescoes are notable sites of the culture of Prilep.

Language

The dialect of Prilep, in the heart of the Pelagonian plain, forms the basis for the standard Macedonian language spoken today. When the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was created in Yugoslavia in 1943 and the language nationally recognized the following year, Prilep, together with Veles, was chosen as the centre for the language because of their central position on the Macedonian map. This includes the unredeemed areas of Macedonia which were of no major interest to Yugoslavia, but remained an issue for Macedonian nationalists.

Art and Architecture

The Clock Tower in Prilep

There are several ancient sites in Prilep including one at Markovi Kuli, St. Nicola’s church from XIII century, St. Uspenie church in Bogorodica, St. Preobrazenie church and the Tomb of the Unconquered, a memorial in honor of the victims of fascism located in Prilep's central park. A large Roman necropolis is known there and parts of numerous walls have been found; the settlement was probably the ancient Ceramiae mentioned in the Peutinger Table. Roman remains can also be found near the Varosh monastery, built on the steep slopes of the hill, which was later inhabited by a medieval community. A large number of early Roman funeral monuments, some with sculpted reliefs of the deceased or of the Thracian Rider and other inscribed monuments of an official nature, are in the courtyard of the church below the southern slope of Varosh. Some of the larger of those monuments were built into the walls of the church.

The most important ancient monument is the old city of Styberra situated on Bedem hill near Cepigovo, in the central region of Pelagonia. As early as the time of the Roman - Macedonian wars, this city was known as a base from which the Macedonian king Perseus of Macedon set out to conquer the Penestian cities. An important site in the area is Bela Crkva, 6 km west of Styberra, where the town of Alkomenai was probably located. It was a stronghold of the Macedonian kings after it was rebuilt in the early Roman period and was at the Pelagonian entrance to a pass leading to Illyria. Part of the city wall, a gate, and a few buildings of the Roman period were uncovered here in excavations. All recent finds from these sites are in the Museum of the City of Prilep.

The Treskavec monastery, built in the 12th century in the mountains about 10 km north of Prilep under Zlatovrv peak, at the edge of a small upland plain 1100 meters above sea level. Prilep has frescoes from the 14th and 15th centuries and is probably the site of the early Roman town of Kolobaise. The name of the early town is recorded on a long inscription on stone which deals with a local cult of Ephesian Artemis. The inscription was reused as a base for a cross on top of one of the church domes. Other inscriptions at Treskavec include several 1st century Roman dedications to Apollo. The old fortress was used by the Romans, and later the Byzantines. During the Middle Ages, King Marko rebuilt the citadel extensively, making it an important military stronghold. After all, even Tsar Samuil came here after the defeat at Belasica in 1014.

Notable people

Statue in Prilep commemorating Alexander the Great

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Prilep is twinned with:

• Radom in Poland
• Garfield, New Jersey in United States

References

External links

• Prilep travel guide from Wikitravel
• Official Prilep Government Website
• Prilep Tobacco Website
• Institute for Tobacco Prilep
• Prilep on Cyber Macedonia
• Asterisks website
• PivoFest-Beer festival in Prilep

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