Strumica

Strumica (Macedonian Cyrillic: Струмица) is a city in Eastern North Macedonia, situated near the tripoint with Bulgaria and Greece. Strumica is a well developed small city with about 40,000 residents and is the seat of its own municipality. It is a great place to stop by and, depending on your time, you have a lot of things to do. You can go shopping, take a walk through downtown and enjoy the cafés and restaraunts, which are in quite a number, or you can surprise yourself with the historical and natural wealth that this area offers.

Understand
To the east the city is connected to the Novo Selo-Petrich border crossing between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Driving north on the A4 highway you can reach Štip and Skopje. By following the regional road R1401 westbound you will reach the European route E75 which starts from Greece and connects North Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary with other European countries.

The Strumica valley is surrounded with the Belasica, Elenica and Ograzhden mountains. The mountain tourism is well developed in the Strumica region. The old neighborhoods of the city lay on the lower parts of the Elenica mountain, offering multiple easily accessible viewpoints of the city and its villages that are scattered throughout the rich agricultural fields; hence Strumica is called the agricultural capital of the country.

Apart from its traditional association to the agriculture, in the 21st century, the city has developed new features that call on visitors. The city has a good infrastructure. In 2010 the city square was reconstructed and expanded, offering a wide area for pedestrians, today used for many events such as Strumica Open Festival and Strumica Carnival. Strumica also has a lively nightlife scene, so the weekends are marked with loud music and performances by famous domestic and foreign artists, especially in the summer.

History
Strumica and the surrounding villages are filled with archeological sites that testify about the long history of settlements in the area. A site called Stranata, near the village of Angelci, reveals evidence of a Neolithic settlement dating back to the 6th millennium BC.

In 1014, Strumica was the site of an important battle between Tsar Samuel's Bulgarian Empire and the Byzantine Empire. The Bulgarians achieved victory; in order to break their spirit, Byzantine Emperor Basil II blinded thousands of Bulgarian soldiers captured at the previous Battle of Kleidion and sent them to Samuel.

The Strumica-area village of Kosturino was the site of an important battle of World War I in December 1915. This was a decisive victory for Bulgaria and the Central Powers, enabling them to build a Berlin to Constantinople rail line.

Neighbouring villages
Several important sites lies outside the city limits of Strumica but within the larger Strumica Municipality.

Vasilevo Municipality lies just north of Strumica. It is notable, especially as a rural municipality, for growing its population from the 1990s to the 2000s. It also has a significant Catholic minority, and a Turkish minority that was once larger prior to the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Events
There is a centuries-old tradition and takes place every year in the period of the Christian festival Trimeri, during Lent. The word “carnival” originates from the Latin words: carne – meat and vale – farewell. The carnival represents a vestige of an ancient cult from the pagan time and indicates the glorification of fertility and purification from the spectral energies of the daily routine. In 1670 the Turkish travel-author Evlija Chelebija, while staying in Strumica, wrote: “I came into a town located in the foothills of a high hillock and what I saw that night was masked people running house–to–house, with laughter, scream and song“.

Sleep

 * Hotel Tiveriopol - www.tiveriopol.com.mk +389 34 340421; +389 34 340422
 * Hotel Tiveriopol - www.tiveriopol.com.mk +389 34 340421; +389 34 340422
 * Hotel Tiveriopol - www.tiveriopol.com.mk +389 34 340421; +389 34 340422
 * Hotel Tiveriopol - www.tiveriopol.com.mk +389 34 340421; +389 34 340422

Go next

 * Novo Selo - home to North Macedonia's two best-known waterfalls, just southeast of Strumica
 * Bosilovo - home to North Macedonia's only swamp, just east of Strumica
 * Veles - NW 60 km