Smilevo () is a village in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, municipality of Demir Hisar. It is famous for the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie uprising which started in the village in the morning of August 2, 1903 (see

Battle of Smilevo {{unreferenced, date=November 2009 The Battle of Smilevo occurred on 5 August 1903, during the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottoman Empire, in the village of Smilevo, in what is today the south-west of North Macedonia. Smilevo has a mountainou ...

). The decision for the uprising was taken during the Smilevo congress of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

(IMRO) from May 2 to May 7, 1903. The village is the native place of

Dame Gruev Damyan Yovanov Gruev (,The first names can also be transliterated as ''Damjan Jovanov'', after Bulgarian Дамян Йованов Груев and Macedonian Дамјан Јованов Груев. The last name is also sometimes rendered as ''G ...

, one of the founders and most prominent leaders of IMRO. Smilevo also has a statue of Dame Gruev on one of its mountain sides. Below this mountainous terrain is the village. The village has one of the largest schools in the Demir Hisar municipality.

Geography

The village is situated in the southernmost part of Demir Hisar municipality on the foothills of Bigla mountain on 880 m above sea level on an area of 16.4 square kilometres, 1,400 ha of which are forests, 113 ha are pastures and 104 ha are cultivated area. It is 10 km from the Demir Hisar —

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba (North Macedonia), Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of th ...

road.

History

The village was the venue of the IMRO's Smilevo Congress of 1903, at which the decision for uprising against the Ottoman rule in

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

was taken by the most prominent members of IMRO. IMRO's revolutionaries rose up on August 2, 1903, which was marked as the beginning of the

Ilinden uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan (Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia), 2 August Geographic locations Bulgaria * Ilinden, Blago ...

Economy

Smilevo people are traditionally masons who have worked on constructing houses and other objects in other villages and cities in North Macedonia, former

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and abroad. In addition to this, many villagers are involved in producing charcoal, agriculture, forestry and other businesses in the surrounding cities and abroad.

Demographics

The population of the village is Macedonian. In 1961, the number of inhabitants was 1,158, while in 1994, the number decreased to 384 due to migration of the people to the cities. It historically has been identified as a Mijak village.

Sights

Near the village is one of the most beautiful

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

in the country dedicated to

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chr ...

(, ''Sveti Petar i Pavle''). It has been recently renovated. On the hill above the village, there is a memorial park dedicated to

. A museum dedicated to the Smilevo congress and the National Liberation Struggle was opened on the 100th anniversary of the Ilinden uprising in 2003.

Famous inhabitants

, founder of the

Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр� ...

References

Villages in Demir Hisar Municipality {{DemirHisar-geo-stub