CULTURAL HERITAGE: - Macedonian Information Centre

- Jovica StankovSki, Gjore Cenev
development and absence of conditions for agricultural development and
cattle breeding on the one and the tempestuous history of this region in
the past centuries on the other side.
As an illustration, we can mention the more recent historic events.
At the end of the 17th century (in 1689, to be more precise) the famous
Karpos Uprising broke out. The leader of the uprising, Karpos, tried to
profit from the great defeat that the Turks had suffered from the Austrian
army under the Vienna’s ramparts. Austrian General Piccolomini chased
the Turks as far as Skopje, and Karpos had hoped that, in cooperation
with Piccolomini, he could liberate these regions from the Turkish slavery.
However, Piccolomini soon withdrew with his army and Karpos’s rebels
were left on their own. The Turks suppressed in blood the uprising, while
the people from this region had to flee from the Turkish retaliations.
Due to these reasons, the whole region had been practically uninhabited
until the beginning of the 19th century. At that time (in 1804) the First
Uprising broke out in Serbia, which also ended without success and was
suppressed in blood in 1813. Running away from the Turks, these parts
were inhabited by larger groups of Serbs from the north, because of which
today the population in the surrounding villages is a mixed combination
of Serbs and Macedonians.
The settlers had an influence on the changing of the toponyms in
the region. So, for instance, the peak of the mountain where the site is
located is called Tatikev Kamen (Tatic’s Stone, trans.). Today we believe
that this name is of a recent origin, because the surrounding peaks of the
mountains bear names like Peralo, Peren, and so on, which, according to
linguists, basically have the root “per” that in the language of the Indo-
European peoples meant stone.
It is interesting to note that, according to some legends narrated by
the peasants, long time ago a lot of horses used to be raised in this region,
while many of the inhabitants used to be skilled horsemen. According
to some claims, a large part of the elite cavalry of the great Alexander of
Macedonia was composed of inhabitants from this region and they had
saved the life of the great military leader several times. There are written
testimonies about these events in history.
In the broader region a rising number of archaeological sites from
the Roman and the broader ancient period have been registered, as well
as a large number of sites of the Iron, the Bronze, and the Neolithic ages.
This means that the entire region has a long history of at least 7,000 years
full of important dwellings, holy places, events, and personalities.