Last modified: 2009-02-28 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Gevgelija]](../images/m/mk-gevg.gif)
Flag of Gevgelija - Image of by Mello Luchtenberg, 30 March 2007
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The municipality of Gevgelija (22,988 inhabitants; 483.43 sq. km) is made of the town of Gevgelija and the 16 settlements of Bogorodica, Gabrovo, Davidovo, Kovanci, Konsko, Moin, Miletkovo, Miravci, Mrzenci, Negorci, Novo Konjsko, Petrovo, Prdejci, Sermenci, Smokvica and Huma.
The town of Gevgelija, located on the right bank of river Vardar on the
border with Greece, is the southernmost and warmest town of Macedonia.
The Mediterranean climate allows the cultivation of several kinds of
vegetables (tomatos) and fruit (grapes, figs, lemons, pomegranates) and
the breeding of silkworms. The town is located on major routes (road
and railway) to Salonica, which allowed the development of industry and trade.
Gevgelija has been nicknamed "The Macedonian Las Vegas" because of the
great number of Greeks who come to the town and visit its six casinos
and numerous shops; some 1,500-2,000 Greek citizens cross the border
every day. Several Greek textile, agri-food and chemistry workshops
have been relocated to Gevgelija, where the production costs are much
lower. In contrast, very few Macedonians are allowed to work in Greece,
mostly as field workers, and awarded the required visa. Accordingly,
trafficking and illegal immigration are increasing. Human
trafficking was the subject of a trial held in Skopje in November 2006
and considered as the biggest criminal case since the independence of
Macedonia. Twenty-six people from Macedonia, Albania, Kosovo and Bulgaria were sentenced to a total of 110 years in jail.
Gevgelija is the only town in the region to have kept its Turkish
baths, built in the XVIIth century; they were declared Monument of
Culture in 2003 and are currently restored with the support of the
Turkish municipality of Karac.
The village of Marvinci, located 25 km north of Gevegelija, is built on
the site of the ancient town of Dober (and not Idomenae, as previously
believed). Several horizons have been excavated, from the VIth century
BC to the Roman period.
Similarly, the ancient town of Gortinia has been excavated from the
Vardar Hill (Vardarski Rid); systematic study of the site started in
1995. The six main horizons of the Vardar Hill are:
- Vardarski Rid I (VI- IV millennium B.C.): a Neolithic settlement not
systematically excavated yet
- Vardarski rid II (XIII -XI century B.C.): a settlement and a
necropolis from the very late Bronze Age
- Vardarski Rid III (X -IX century B.C.): a settlement from the early
Iron Age
- Vardarski Rid IV (VIII-VI/V century B.C.): a settlement and a
necropolis (some 200 tombs) from the late Iron Age
- Vardarski Rid V (V - IV century B.C.): the oldest known urban
settlement in Macedonia
- Vardarski Rid VI (III - II/I century B.C.): the later Macedonian
town, pre-Roman times.
Academician Jordan Grabul created the Freedom's monument in the early
1970s. The monument is dedicated to killed soldiers and victims in the
Second World War, from Gevgelija and its surroundings. It was built on
the Vardar Hill and should be soon relocated elsewhere to allow further
archeological research.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 3 April 2007
The municipal flag of Gevgelija, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is horizontally divided white-blue with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
Ivan Sache, 3 April 2007
![[Flag of Miravci]](../images/m/mk-mira.gif)
Flag of Miravci - Image of by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 13 November 2006
The small town of Miravci (2,779 inhabitants) is located some 20 km
north of Gevgelija in the Vardar valley. Miravci, like all other towns in Vardar valley is along the railway (and other important transportation routes) going from north to
south, further on to the Aegean sea.
Miravci was incorporated to the municipality of Gevgelija in 2004.
Miravci is known for its traditional dances, which were the subject of
a film made by the Belgrade Ethnography Museum in 1932. The First
Belgrade Folk Festival (28 May - 13 June 1938) was opened with the
Rusalians from Miravci, as a part of a project led by the sisters
Danica and Ljubica Janković, who collected, classified, systematized
and scientifically studied the traditional dances of the regions within
the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and then the Republic of Yugoslavia (with
publications from 1934 to 1952). In September 1951, Peter Kennedy
recorded music in the Opatija Folk Music Festival; track #14 of the
record is:
14. Petre Vojvodo. A group of women from Miravci, Djevdjeli, perform a
Revolutionary Dance to tapan and zurla. It pays tribute to the
Vejvedas (Chieftains) and to their great accomplishments in the
battle-field.
The flag of Miravci, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local
Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportion 1:2, vertically divided yellow-white-blue with the municipal emblem in the middle of the white stripe.
The emblem shows in dexter two acorns on a yellow field and in
sinister a man with a sword. The man could be one of the chieftains celebrated by the local
folklore. The basis of the shield is red, with a representation of the railway. The top of the shield has the city name written in yellow on red.
The colours of the flag seem to have been derived from those of the
coat of arms.
Ivan Sache & Željko Heimer , 13 November 2006