Due to its favorable geographic location, together with excellent natural climatic
characteristics, the territory of the present town Kocani was inhabited as early as
the ancient times first by the Peons, Meds and Traks. Later on in the VI century the
Slavs inhabited parts of the region. More precisely, in the VII century members of
the Slavic tribe Smoljani colonized the Kocani valley and built a fortification. The
founders of the Slavic education, brothers Kiril and Metodij lived/stayed in the
valley from 845 to 855 and in the Bregalnica area (Morodviz) started to preach
Christianity in Slavic language.
Although the settlement existed long before that, the first written document in which
the name Kocani is mentioned dated from 1337. Since the end of the XIV century Kocani
was under the reign of the Ottoman Empire. In 1662 Evlija Celebija, an author who wrote
about his travels notes about a settlement with 600 houses and 15 handicraft stores.
In the XVII and XIX century, and especially in the XX century after the railroad was
built in 1926 the town grew considerably.
