Macedonia | Did you know

Did you know this about Macedonia?

1. 1,179,111 people live in the urban areas of the Republic of Macedonia.
2. 120 dolls in Kuklica, near Kratovo are 10 milion years old. The entire location is known as Stone Dolls of Kuklica - a very rare monument of the nature.
3. 2,764 meters is the height of Golem Korab, the highest peak in Macedonia.
4. 3 tectonic, 25 glacial and 15 artificial lakes and 34 mountains exist in Macedonia.
5. 500,000 tourists visit the Republic of Macedonia in 2000. However this number has increased by 30%.
6. 729 BC, was the year when King Perdicca 1st found the ancient Macedonian Kingdom.
7. 976 AD, was the year when the medieval Macedonian state was formed by Samoil.
8. According to NASA, Kokino is 4th on the list of oldest meghalithic observatories in the whole world, right after Abu Simbel Egypt, Stonehenge Great Britain, Angkor Wat Cambodia. However less known is Cocev Kamen near Kokino 4 milion years old and more contemporary than Kokino.
9. Apart from Mother Theresa who is born in Skopje, the founder of Turkey, Kemal Ataturk was born in Bitola.
10. August 2, 1944 was the date when the first modern Macedonian state was formed after the Second World War, at the First Plenary Session of ASNOM held in the monastery St. Prohor Pcinjski.
11. Half of Macedonia's exports go via one road to Salonica, which is in Greece.
12. In a cemetery in Butel is where George Zorbas's grave is located. Eventually George Zorba's seems to be the character upon whom Nikos Kazantzakis based his fictional Alexis Zorbas, the protagonist of his novel Zorba the Greek. His eventful life ended in 1942 in Skopje, where he settled, remarried, and had more children.
13. In the village of Vatasa in the not very distant 1838, a print store was opened, which is claimed to be first in the Balkans.
14. It is fascinating that The fresco "Lamentation over the Body of Christ" in St. Pantelejmon was painted 140 years before Giotto's "Pieta".
15. Macedonia is a small country with a big soul... It was admitted as the 181 member of the United Nations.
16. Macedonia is cradle of the Slavic culture and the Cyrillic script. St. Clement of Ohrid developed the Glagolica alphabet the masterpiece of his teachers Sts. Cyril and Methodius and name it Cyrillic in his honor.
17. Macedonia is not a province in Greece, but a Balkan country, although parts of Macedonia can be found in Greece and Bulgaria.
18. Macedonia is the only place in Europe to have clearest rubies. How many of you have known that the city of Prilep has rubies, precious gemstones who can be seen on world catalogues. And how many of you knew that foreigners are purchasing these rubies at dirt cheap prices. Decades ago, the people in the Prilep region had been told (lied) that the rubies found near Prilep's dolomit marble mine were not gemstones, rather a low quality mineral called corundum
19. Macedonia produces more than 135 milions litres of wine, 150 milions litres of rakija and 850 milions of beer per year, with a population of sligthly more than 2 milion.
20. Mother Teresa (Agnes Gondza Bojadziu) was born in Skopje on August 26 1910. She died on September 5, 1997.
21. Music in Macedonia dates back to the 11th century. The Bologna psaltir is written in Cyrillic in the Ohrid village Raven. If you visit the Ohrid Museum you can find written songs and music notes dating back from the 10 to 14th centuries.
22. Ohrid - the European Jerusalem, the cultural capital of Macedonia, the city of the Slavic civilization and Cyrillic script used to have 365 churches, one for each day of the year.
23. One of the Titanic Survivors was a Macedonian. Stojko Dodolovski, from the village of Chucher (Skopje area), made a last second purchase of a ticket to the Titanic from a British priest. When the ship started sinking Stojko jumped into the ocean. He swam towards few of the rescue boats, but was not allowed to climb aboard. Stojko stayed calm and floated on the ocean until one of the rescue boats came back to look for survivors, several hours later. Stojko was one of the 12 survivors picked up.
24. Parts of Jesus' Crucifiction cross are layed in the foundations of the monasteries of St Bogorodica Precista (Kicevo), St. Jovan Bigorski, and St. Georgij Pobedonosec in Rajcica (Debar).
25. September 8, 1991 is the date when Macedonia proclaimed independence from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
26. Skopje plain seems to be inhabited at least for 7000-8000 years. The neolithic tomb in Madzari and the neolithic settlement found in the Skopje Kale fortress are proof of it.
27. The annual Ohrid Summer Festival (mid-July to late August) is the major cultural event in Macedonia. Held in a well-preserved Roman amphitheater and in magnificent churches, it features classical music, jazz and ballet. An international festival of poetry is held in nearby Struga in late August.
28. The fertile imagination of woodcarvers, the exquisite patterns of Macedonian carpets and the filigree working of gold and silver are all parts of the rich creative tradition of this people.
29. The first railway route in the Balkans is between Skopje and Solun (Salonica), in the 19th century.
30. The first ZOO in the Balkans was opened in Skopje.
31. The highest quality of opium is the Macedonian. Second is Pakistan's opium who has seven morph units. Third is the Columbian with around 3.5 M.E. The Macedonian opium has an incredible 14 M.E., doubling that of Pakistan.
32. The Macedonian city of Ohrid is the oldest on the planet, most recently featured on ultra famous US show “Jeopardy”. The Ohrid lake itself is over 3 million years old. It has over 200 endemic species not found on any other place on the planet. Apart from its ancient theater (which is still in use today), the ancient Ohrid (called Lychnidos : the City of Lights) boasted a classical agora, gymnasium, civil basilicas and temples to the Gods.
33. The many lush and rich areas of Macedonia were once referred to as the orchards of Yugoslavia.
34. The mixture of cultures in Macedonia inspired a word in French for mixed salad: macedoine.
35. The most famous song in Palestine and today treated as an anthem of Palestine and the Arabic world is written by a Macedonian. Bitola journalist and writer Pande Manojlov wrote the theme in 1982 and published it in the Skopje daily 'Nova Makedonija'.
36. The nuns at the Macedonian church of St Gorgjija Pobedonosec hand make the special archbishop clothing worn by the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, as well as the heads of the Russian, Greek, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Serbian Orthodox Churches, including the ones in North America and Africa.
37. The oldest lake in Europe and the deepest in the Balkan's - the Ohrid lake is 4 milion years old and has more than 200 endemic species.
38. The oldest tree in Macedonia is the Platanus Orientalis in Ohrid. Whether a coincidence or not, the tree is growing since St. Clement of Ohrid period, in the 9th century.
39. The Oscar-nominated film Before the Rain, set in the tiny village of Stavica, is a good examination of Macedonian life and culture and features some memorable Macedonian scenery.
40. The Pesna Cave, near Makedonski Brod, as described in New York Times, is identical as the imagined caves in the trilogy Lord of the Rings.
41. The smallest ethno museum in the world is located only 5 km on the northwest of Tetovo, in the picturesque village of Dzepciste and as such is listed in the Guinness Book of Records.
42. The sun crystal that Alexander The Great used to blind his Persian enemies, can be found only in Macedonia. The Macedonian mine “Alshar” on Kozuv mountain is the only world source of Thallium, and a potential 'mine' for ecological clean energy. Since 2004, the Alshar mine is a member of the "Emerald" network, an organization for protection of nature's rarities.
43. The world famous Manaki brothers of Bitola won the first golden medal for cinematography in the Romanian city of Sinaia in 1905.
44. Vardar is the longest river 388 km long, flowing sluggishly and cutting Macedonia in two.