The unusual name of the town of Kriva Palanka comes from its position on the banks of
the river Kriva. At first it used to be called Egri Dere, which means "curved river" in
Turkish. Later, the word "palanka" replaced the word "dere".
Kriva Palanka is one of the Macedonian towns of more recent history. It was founded by
the Turks, i.e. by Bajram Pasha, as a military and defense center whose goal was to
strengthen their power in the region. To confirm this fact is a marble plate with a sign
that states the year 1043 of the Muslim calendar (1633 of the Christian calendar) as the
year of its foundation. The plate also reads twelve verses in Arabic, written by an
unknown Turkish poet in honor of the founder of the town. At first the plate used to be
on the entrance of the fortress, later it was transferred in the mosque in the center of
the town and today it is kept in the Museum of Macedonia in Skopje.
Very soon Kriva Palanka became a settlement, a small town. According to the census of
the 19th Century it was listed as a town with Christian and Turkish population. It had
a bazaar with 250 stores and rich merchants. Among them was Hadji Stefan Beglikcija,
remembered as the man who got permission from the Sultan to build the monastery of St.
Joakim Osogovski. It is assumed that the memorial in front of the temple speaks of the
conformation, which also guaranteed its protection.
Kriva Palanka is also related to the life, work and death of Joakim Krcovski, a priest
and religious master, Macedonian educator and founder of the new Macedonian literature
in the 19th Century. In 1817 he founded a church school in the house of Enger, near the
church of St. Dimitrija (built in 1833). Later, the new Kelijno School was formed in
the yard of the church. The school was working until 1927. According to a legend, the
great Macedonian educator Kiril Pejcinovic was buried in the old graveyard in the yard
of the church.
Apart from the well-known Monastery of St. Joakim Osogovski, famous for its beauty and
importance, there is also the Monastery Church of St. Nikola near the village of Psaca,
which is an area full of hundred-year-old oak trees.
