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Kavadarci (Municipality, Macedonia)

Кавадарси

Flag of Kavadarci - Image by Mello Luchtenberg, 30 March 2007

Presentation of Kavadarci
Municipal flag of Kavadarci

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Presentation of Kavadarci

The municipality of Kavadarci (38,741 inhabitants; 992.44 sq.km), located in the region of Tikveš in central Macedonia, is made of the town of Kavadarci and the 39 settlements of Begnište, Bojancište, Bohula, Brušani, Bunarce, Vataša, Vozarci, Galište, Garnikovo, Glišikje, Gorna Bošava, Grbovec, Dabnište, Dobrotino, Dolna Bošava, Dragožel, Dradnja, Drenovo, Kesendre, Klinovo, Konopište, Košali, Krnjevo, Kumanicevo, Majden, Marena, Mrežicko, Pravednik, R'žanovo, Radnja, Raec, Resava, Rožden, Sopot, Stragovo, Fariš, Čemersko, Šeškovo and Šivec.

The region of Tikveš is named after an old settlement built at the confluency of the rivers Tikvesica and Crna. Artefacts confirm it was an old Roman settlement, whereas records from the XVIth century claim the settlement already existed in 1378. Unfortunately, the construction of the reservoir Tikveš has flooded all the records.
Lake Tikveš was formed on the river Crna in 1968, with its dam near the village of Vozarci, 12 km south of Kavadarci. It is the biggest reservoir in Macedonia (14 sq. km, 26 km in length, 475,000,000 cub. m in volume). The water is used for irrigation and electricity production, whereas the lake is a popular summer vacation place.
Although the town of Kavadarci was mentioned for the first time only in 1823, the Tikveš region was settled much earlier. Roman coins portraying Remus, Romulus and the Roman she-wolf were found in the village of Manastired; a Roman monument and writings were excavated in Marena, as were tombs, foundations and water supplying system in Domovica. In the VIIth century, the area was colonized by the Slavs, who suppressed the town of Dukena, itself built on the site of the former town of Stobi (near the today's municipality of Gradsko). After the Ottoman conquest in the XIVth century, the area was resettled by new families such as the Vlahovci. In 1875, Kavadarci was a 2,000 inhabitants town belonging to the pashalik of Bitola; the building of the Vardar railway at that time boosted the economy and two weekly markets were set up. After the Balkan war, most of the Muslims left the town.
The popular etymology relates the name of Kavadarci to a cow (in Macedonian, krav) lost by a local farmer; the place was to be named Kravoder and later Kavadarci. More probably, the name of the town comes from the Greek word kavadion, a local dress.

The St. George of Polog (St. Giorgi Pološki) monastery is located on the shore of the Crna river, in the vicinity of the village of Pološko. It is deemed to originate from either the XIIIth or XIVth century. A 1340 charter of King Dušan states that his brother Dragutin was buried in this monastery. Thus, on request of his mother, Dušan converted it into an appendage of the Hilandar monastery. Around 1378, the Dejanovici brothers converted it again, this time into an appendage of Mount Athos' monastery of St. Pantheleimon. In 1584 there were 5-6 monks in the monastery, lead by Prior Paisij. In either 1599 or 1609, the monastery was fresco painted by Prior Sava and the monk Partenius. The monastery is famous for its iconostasis, which is represented on some Macedonian coins.

Kavadarci, along with the neighbouring villages of Konopište and Rosoman, is the main center of wine production in Macedonia and south-eastern Europe. Wine industry employs 85% of the population of Kavadarci. The Tikveš winery, established in 1946, is the biggest in south-eastern Europe. It produces every year 35 millions liters of wine from 55 million kg of grapes, using 30 grape varieties for 24 types of wine. The most local popular varities are Smederevka, Traminec and Temjanika (white) and Kratosija, Vranec, Teran and Stanudina (red). The grapes are harvested during the 7-day festival called Tikveški Grozdober.
Kavadarci has also industry, such as the FENI ferronickel complex, which has been since January 2007 the source of a "red dust" pollution.

Sources:

Ivan Sache, 4 April 2007

Municipal flag of Kavadarci

The flag of Kavadarci, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is vertical, vertically divided white-dark red with a grape made of six discs (3+2+1) in the upper part. The discs are counter-coloured, including the two central that overlap on the two stripes.

Ivan Sache, 4 April 2007