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Last modified: 2019-09-08 by ivan sache
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Flag of Strumica - Image by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 10 December 2006
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The municipality of Strumica (54,676 inhabitants; 321.49 sq. km) is
located in southeastern North Macedonia. It is made of the town of Strumica
and the 24 settlements of Banica, Bansko, Belotino, Veljusa, Vodoča, Gabrovo, Gradsko Baldovci, Dabinje, Dobrejci, Dobrombos, Zleševo, Kosturino, Kukliš, Memešli, Myrtino, Ormanli, Popčevo, Prosenikovo, Raborci, Rič, Saševo, Svidovica, Tri Vodi and Čepeli.
The town of Strumica, watered by the river of the same
name, is the center of the richest agricultural region of North Macedonia.
The main productions are poppy, cotton, tobacco, sesame, peanuts and
anason, that is anise (Pimpinelle anisum) used in the "Macedonian
whisky", mastika.
Strumica is the birth place of the footballer Goran Pandev (b. 1983),
playing for Lazio Rome and currently considered as the best Macedonian
player.
Strumica was known under the Greek name of Astraion, the Town of Stars,
and its inhabitants as Astrai. After the Roman colonization, the town
was renamed Tiberiopolis, after Emperor Tiberius. The Slavic name,
Strumica, is said to be the translation of Astraion, but there are
alternative explanations for the name of the town, referring to a young
woman named Struma, whose tomb is located in the village of Veljusa.
Struma is said to be King Marko's sister, or the daughter of an Emperor
who laid a curse on her so that her body would not be taken by the
ground; after her death, the ground rejected seven times her body out
of the grave, so that she had to be buried in a stone mausoleum placed
above the ground.
The citadel of Čarski Kuli (The Tzar's Towers) seems to have predated
the Roman conquest; it is surrounded by a very old limestone wall and a
second, internal wall, protecting the acropolis. The gate is protected
by two towers dated from the 6th century, revamped during the Roman
period. When the Christian religion became official in the Empire,
Tiberiopolis was the seat of a bishopric; churches dedicated to local
martyres were built, the most significant of them being the martyrium
built under Justinian's reign over the tomb of the 15 martyrs near the
citadel.
The citadel recall the sad end of the medieval state truled by Tsar
Samuel. The ruler lost in 1014 the battle of Belasica, near Strumica,
and his winner, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II ordered the enucleation
of all of Samuel's 14,000 soldiers, except one out of hundred who led
back the defeated troops to the Tsar. Samuel died in Prilep two days
after the return of the defeated army. The local legend says that the
soldiers were blinded near the 11-th century St. Leontius church,
therefore nickname Vodoča, from vadi oči, "to poke eyes".
Source: FAQ Macedonia
The Strumica Carnival takes place every year on Tuesday after Ash Monday. It is a very old tradition, already recorded in 1670 by the Turkish traveler Evlija Celebija. After some decline, the Carnival was restored in 1991 and Strumica joined in 1994 the European Federation of the Carnival Cities, hoisting in 1998 the 18th Congress of the Federation. The Strumica Carnival is specifically dedicated to engaged women and includes several pagan and erotic symbols.
Ivan Sache, 10 December 2006
The flag of Strumica (Macedonian Ministry of Local
Self-Government website, page no longer online), is vertical, in proportions 2:1, white with the municipal coart of arms skewed to the upper border.
The coat of arms is quartered, 1, blue a yellow cross, probably refering to the bishopric of Strumica; 2, yellow a blue wheel with yellow rays; 3, yellow the skyline of Strumica outlined in blue, with the citadel and the stars,
alluding to the Greek name of the town; and 4, blue a yellow flower. The city name is written above the shield in yellow letters on a blue cartouche.
Ivan Sache, 10 December 2006
