The first authentic information concerning Kumanovo dates back to 1519 in
documents of the Istanbul Turkish archives, mentioning 52 families with about
300 inhabitants.
Kumanovo became an urban settlement and administrative center of the region
at the end of the XVI century or the beginning of the XVII century. Following
the turbulent events (notably, the Karposh rebellion in 1689) the city
experienced a period of stagnation, and by the end of XVIII century Kumanovo
epitomized a Turkish provincial town.
It developed economically in the late XIX century (agriculture, handcrafts
and trade).
The town has an outstanding revolutionary tradition. Together with Prilep,
it was in Kumanovo that on October 11, 1941, the anti-fascist insurrection of
the Macedonian people and its struggle for national and social liberation
began. Still, industrial development occurred only at the end of the
Second World War. The fast growing economic, administrative and cultural
expansion in Kumanovo fired up in 1945. Today, it is a modern city with
approximately 100,000 inhabitants.
The city and the region boast a reach history with numerous cultural and
historical monuments dating back to the prehistoric period.
The Church of St. George at the Monastery of Staro Nagoricane is the best
known cultural and historical monument in the Kumanovo's vicinity. The Church
was built in the 11th century and was reconstructed in the l4th. During its
reconstruction, the fresco-painters Mihailo and Evtihij painted its walls
with frescoes of exceptional artistic value.
