Into the Mountains We Go
Kruševo “Place of the Pear Trees”
I write this journal entry with sadness in my heart. Yes, I am over a year late writing this one, but I am devastated to find that I can’t find any of my pictures from this beauty of a town high in the mountains. So I did sadly had to purchase these photos for you.
Kruševo is a mountainous town at an altitude of 1,350 metres (4,430 ft), Kruševo is also the highest town in Macedonia. Seemingly isolated, this community is close knit. To be fully honest, I didn’t even know this place existed, had I known I would have dedicated more time here for sure.
I arrived late in November, so just after the epic summers where the trees are drenched in plums, pears and figs and just before the winter rolls in transforming this little town in the mountains into ski slopes.
What is that?
Makedonium
Kruševo is also home to the Makedonium spomenik, dedicated to the Ilinden Uprising and the Kruševo Republic and many museums of the Ilinden Uprising. Officially opened on August 2 of 1974, on the 30th anniversary of the Second Session of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia and the 71st anniversary of the 1903 Ilinden uprising.
The monument is located on 12 acres, stands 25 meters tall and it has a rounded shape with protruding oval windows. The upper windows are made of stained glass. Inside the dome is the tomb of Nikola Karev, president of the Kruševo Republic, and the bust of the singer Toše Proeski (aka The Elvis of the Balkans).
This is the origin location of the rebel republic that changed the face of politics in the region.
Set on a collection of hills interlocked by cobbled streets, Krusevo is home to a historic Old Bazaar, some next level heritage architecture, and an impressive amount of traditional craftspeople.
This is SERIOUS STUFF!
The Elvis of the Balkans
The Toše Proeski Memorial House. Much like the ‘real’ Elvis, he was a national treasure. He was talented and kind and generous and basically embodies the entire nation’s people.
The memorial house is a monument to a man, a symbol, a character with values, a memory of one of the most striking figures in recent Macedonian history.
The memorial house represents the materialization of the entire life path of Toše Proeski and through its contents provides a chronological account of his childhood, teenage years and the period when he reached the peak of his musical and artistic career. Chronologically, the house is divided into six parts: life path, musical career, everyday life, Toše as a humanist and believer, Toše and fans, and Toše forever.
On October 5, 2007, the City Stadium in Skopje was filled to capacity for the third time. The concert was humanitarian and dedicated to the revitalization of Macedonian education. More than 20,000 visitors were present at that concert.
One week later, Toše died on October 16, 2007 in a tragic traffic accident on the highway from Zagreb – Lipovac, near Nova Gradishka in the Republic of Croatia, at the age of 26. His death was felt deeply by all the Balkans countries.
If I had great power, even briefly, I would make hate and evil disappear and people would share love with each other. ~ Tose Proeski
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