Прилеп

History of Prilep

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. Byzantium lost it to the Second Bulgarian Empire, but later retook it. Prilep was acquired in 1334 by Serbian King Dušan and after 1365 the town belonged to King Vukašin, co-ruler of Dušan's son, Tzar Stefan Uroš V. After the death of Vukašin in 1371, Prilep was ruled by his son Marko.^[2] In 1395 it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, of which it remained a part of until 1913, when it entered into the Kingdom of Serbia. From 1918 to 1941 Prilep was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and from 1944 to 1991 the town belonged to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as part of its constituent Socialist Republic of Macedonia. Since 1991 the town has been part of the Republic of Macedonia.

Culture

The mountain over Prilep -Zlatovrv

• One of the most important institutions in the city is the Institute of Old Slavic Culture.
• An art colony is hosted in the center of Prilep in the Center of Contemporary Visual Arts. The colony was founded in 1957 by the archaeologist Prof. Boško Babić, but organized by the initiative of Prof. 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 hosts workshops and symposia for vitrage (glass design), mosaics, photography, graphics and clay, from countries around the world. The collection of sculptures carved in wood was acknowledged as a cultural heritage by the most relevant criticizers and opinion makers. 2007 was the 50th 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.
• Pivofest is a yearly 4 day party held in the middle of July that attracts around 200,000 visitors to the city. There are international popular music acts performing nightly on the main stage in the square as well as at the various clubs around town. Pivofest features a growing number of foreign and domestic beers as well as an opportunity for Prilep to showcase it's famous skara.
• Prochka is a centuries old religious holiday of forgiveness and celebration that in 2001 found an organized manifestation as "Prilep Carnival" and has been a member of the Federation of European Carnival Cities since 2006. Despite the new official name, the festival is still known as Prochka by the locals and is called Prochka in the official tourist guide. The highlight of the festival is the mask parade which runs through the center of the town and hosts participants from multiple European countries. There is a prize given for the best costume and many of the costumes are very elaborate. There are also concerts, parties, and lots of traditional food during the festival which is held in February.

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 recognised 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 wider region within Bulgaria and Greece.