Kumanovo is a city and the seat of Kumanovo Municipality which is the largest municipality in the country. Municipal institutions include a city council, mayor and other administrative bodies. Kumanovo is situated in the northeastern part of the Macedonia, near the capital city of Skopje and is surrounded by the Karadag part of Skopska Crna Gora mountain on its western side, Gradištanska mountain on its southern side, and Mangovica and German mountain on the Eastern side. Kumanovo has a temperate climate. Skopje “Alexander the Great” Airport also serves Kumanovo.
Kumanovo has a library “Tane Georgievski Library”, Cultural Center Trajko Prokopiev, museum and theatre. Several painting colonies and exhibitions take place every year in Kumanovo or in nearby villages. Kumanovo is distinguished by its jazz festival which features bands from all over the world. The Macedonian bands Foltin and Dragan Dautovski Quartet, as well as bands from Croatia, Hungary, Netherlands, Slovenia, Serbia, Netherland, Norway and Montenegro participated in the festival. Every year Kumanovo has a “Days of Comedy” festival, sponsored by the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, featuring comedies from several Macedonian theatres and also from neighbouring Serbia and Bulgaria.
The town’s metal-processing, tobacco, agriculture, footwear and textile industries have made it an economic, trading and cultural center of approximately 135,529 people. Agriculture and trade developed mainly in the 19th century, but the city’s modern look was established after the Second World War. The oldest folklore assemble in the Macedonia, KUD “Panče Pešev” is placed in Kumanovo. This year the assemble is celebrating 80 years of existence. It has represented Kumanovo and Macedonia on many international folklore festivals in Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Romania, Hungary, Poland, France, etc. The president is Mr. Miroslav Krstevski.
Kumanovo has several monuments dating back to the prehistoric period. The most important ones are: Gradište, an archaeological place of interest that is situated near the village of Pelince and dates from the Bronze Age. Near the village of Mlado Nagoričane is another interesting site dating from the period of Neolith. Near the village of Lopate is the Drezga place that represents a Roman necropolis. One of the most important sites located near the Kumanovo is the 4,000 year old megalithic astronomical observatory of Kokino, located 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Kumanovo and discovered in 2001. It is ranked fourth on the list of old observatories by NASA.
[caption id="attachment_243166" align="aligncenter" width="590"] 2024 Summer Olympics[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The 2024 Summer Olympics (French: Jeux olympiques d'été de 2024), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad and offici...