"Krusevo" a Krusevo Travel Page by Pijlmans

We arrived in Krusevo by foot, coming from the Monastery of St Spas in Trstenik. This was part of a 3-4 day trip we did from Ohrid-Prilep-Krusevo-Ohrid, with a stay in Prilep and in the Monastery of St Spas.

Krusevo is allegedly the highest town of the Balkan, at 1250 m. On August 2 1903 (the holy day of St Ilija), the Macedonians fought for independence from the Ottoman empire. This day is known as Ilinden or Ilija´s day. In Krusevo there was some heavy fighting, and on August 3 the independence of the Republic of Krusevo was announced, but it lasted only for 10 days until it was brought down again by the Ottomans.

We wanted to see the huge statue in Meckin Kamen and the Ilinden Uprising Monument. However, we had limited time and there are no taxis in this town. So we asked around and found somebody that was willing to drive us to these sites (for too many denars, but hey, we made his day :-).

Meckin Kamen was the site of one of the battles. The story tells that the Macedonians were heavily outnumbered by the Ottomans and short of ammunition, so they started to throw rocks. The powerful statue shows a fighter throwing a huge rock. The Macedonians come here every August 2nd to celebrate the independence of Macedonia.

The Ilinden Uprising Monument is on the opposite side of town of the Meckin Kamen monument. The monument contains the tomb of Nikola Karaev, who was made president of the Republic of Krusevo in 1903.

After this visit we went by bus to Prilep and subsequently back to Ohrid, and our three day Ohrid-Prilep-Krusevo trip was finished.