Republic Day () or Ilinden () is a national holiday in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. It is celebrated on 2 August, which is also a religious holiday – Ilinden (Macedonian: Илинден; St. Elijah day; the day is reckoned as 20 July according to the

Julian Calendar The Julian calendar is a solar calendar of 365 days in every year with an additional leap day every fourth year (without exception). The Julian calendar is still used as a religious calendar in parts of the Eastern Orthodox Church and in parts ...

). It commemorates two major events in the establishment of the statehood of the country which took place on this date: * The Ilinden Uprising of 1903 which was organized by the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...

against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, and during which a short-lived Kruševo Republic was proclaimed; * The First Session of ASNOM of 1944, during the National Liberation Struggle, which laid the foundation of the

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

. Macedonians have traditionally celebrated this day, also called ''Ilinden'', because of its religious significance which has its roots in the Christian St. Elijah (). It was proclaimed as a national holiday in the first session of ASNOM on 2 August 1944. Major gatherings are held in the monasteries, and there is a march of horsemen from

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, the capital, to

Kruševo Kruševo ( ; "Crușuva") is a town in North Macedonia. In Macedonian language, Macedonian the name means the 'place of pear trees'. It is the highest town in North Macedonia and one of the highest in the Balkans, situated at an altitude of over ...

, where during the Ilinden Uprising the Kruševo Republic was established. The main celebrations take place in

, in the area called Mečkin Kamen (Bear's Rock), where a major battle with the

Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...

took place in August 1903, and in the

ASNOM Memorial Center The ASNOM memorial center is a building located in the village of Pelince, in the northern part of North Macedonia. It was built in 2004 and contains a replica of the room where the first plenary session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the Pe ...

References

{{reflist August observances Public holidays in North Macedonia

See also

References