Тhe City of Prilep (Прилеп)
Prilep is located in the northern part of the Pelagonija Valley in Central Macedonia and is the 4th largest city in Macedonia with a population of around 67,000. Prilep in itself is a cultural and heritage center for Macedonia and serves as a great hub for nearby attractions. Located within the immediate vicinity of Prilep is King Marko’s Fortress, the Elephant Rock, the Monastery St. Michael in Varoš, (Varosh), the Treskavec Monastery and the Zrze Monastery. Prilep also hosts annual festivals such as the Dolneni Music Festival, International Children’s Music Festival, Macedonian Theatre Festival “Vojdan Chernodrinski”, the Prilep Carnival and Pivo Fest (a beer festival).1
Prilep is a city of towers, old architecture and charms that have not been swept away by modern life. Below are some random shots from the city center, especially the city’s main square called “Alexandria” in honor of Alexander the Great, and in the second gallery below you can see the city’s monument to Alexander.
Monuments
The first four pictures in the gallery below are of the monument honoring Prilep’s native son, Marko Cepenkov (Марко Цепенков), 1829-1920, the largest collector of Macedonian folklore, ethnography, linguistics, and national history.2 The next monument (pictures 5 & 6) are of a statue of Metodija Andonov Čento (Методија Андонов Ченто), 1902-1957, the first president of ASNOM (the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia) and after World War II he was the first president of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.3
The next monument (pictures 7, 8 & 9) is of Aleksandar III Makedonski (Александар III Македонски) or as he is commonly called, Alexander the Great. Pictures 10 to 13 are of the shrine located in the city center honoring St. Nicholas (Sv. Nikola, Св. Никола) the patron saint of the City of Prilep. The remaining pictures ar ofe artful statues.
Environs
The pictures below were taken before arriving in town from the east. Prilep is located about a 130 kilometers south of Skopje (just under 2 hours) and about 55 kilometers from Gradsko, the exit from the E75 highway to head west on the A1 highway.
Google Map