The third largest city in Macedonia after Skopje and Bitola is Kumanovo. It’s the seat of the most populated municipality in Republic of Macedonia.

According to the 2002 census, Kumanovo had 70,842 inhabitants.

Kumanovo lies 640 meters above sea level, and it is surrounded by the Karadag part of Skopska Crna Gora mountain on its western side, Gradistanska mountain on its southern side and Mangovica and German mountain on the eastern side.

The name Kumanovo is believed to derive from the Cumans, a Turkic tribe who settled the area in the 12th-13th century.

Kumanovo is located at the junction of E-75 and E-871 routes. The 40 kilometer highway exists between Skopje and Kumanovo, going near Kumanovo in the north and crossing the border with Serbia. A railway also connects Skopje with Kumanovo and Serbia. E-871 is the other important road that goes from Kumanovo to Kriva Palanka and then to the border with Bulgaria.

The Kumanovo’s metal-processing, tobacco, agriculture, footwear and textile industries have made it an economic, trading and cultural center of approximately 135,529 people. Agriculture and trade developed mainly in the 19th century, but the Kumanovo’s modern look was established after the Second World War.

Every year Kumanovo has a Days of comedy festival, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, featuring comedies from several Macedonian theatres. Kumanovo is organizing the manifestation City of culture.

Climate & When to come in Kumanovo

The climate in the area has continental characteristics and different daily and monthly values. Kumanovo is under great influence by the warm and also cold airstreams conditioning from a climate point of view to separate to two kinds of seasons: cold and moisty winters and hot and dry summers. The Autumn is sometimes long and warm, what is characteristic for the temperate-continental climate.

Kumanovo tourist attractions

• MATEJCE MONASTERY The Ascension of Holy Mother is located near the village of Matejce. The Matejce monastery is built high on the Skopska Crna Gora mountain in the distant 1313. Matejce monastery is dedicated to the Dormition of the Ascension of Holy Mother and is located at an altitude of 999 meters above the sea level. Matejce monastery is currently undergoing one of the toughest periods of its formation and is left on the edge of time. 14 km WSW from Kumanovo center
• ASNOM MEMORIAL COMPLEX The ASNOM memorial center is a building located in the village of Pelince, in the northern part of Macedonia. It was built in 2004 and is a copy of the original building where the first plenary session of the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) was held, which is located in the Prohor Pchinjski monastery in neighboring Serbia, 2 km from the memorial center. 115 delegates held the first Anti-Fascist Assembly for the People’s Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) in monastery St. Prohor Pcinski near Kumanovo, confirming Macedonia’s social-legal position as an equal federal unit within Yugoslavia. The oldest delegate and witness of both Ilindens Panko Brasnarov opened the assembly, whereas Metodija Andonov-Cento was elected ASNOM President. The ASNOM assembly adopted several statehood documents, including the decision on introducing the Macedonian language as the official language in the country, along with the Declaration on the fundamental rights of the man and citizen of democratic Macedonia. It is therefore a building with great historical importance for the Macedonian citizens and the country. Every year the Day of the Republic is celebrated here by thousands of people and the president or the prime minister of Macedonia being guests and holding speeches. Next to the building a library, a typical Macedonian restaurant and a park were constructed. 19.19 km NE from Kumanovo center
• ESKI MOSQUE This mosque is the oldest object with public function in Kumanovo, built in 1751 by the Ottoman Turks. 0.35 km WNW from main square / Kumanovo
• HOLY TRINITY CHURCH Holy Trinity (Sveta Troica) church was built in 1902. Holy Trinity (Sveta Troica) church is a product from the struggles in the 19th century by initiative of the Patriarshy. 0.28 km SE from main square / Kumanovo
• KOKINO MEGALITHIC OBSERVATORY An important megalithic observatory site. It is believed that represents an astronomical observatory and a ceremonial place. The site is approximately 3,800 years old. Kokino consists of two parts. It includes special stone markers used to track the movement of Sun and Moon on the eastern horizon. The observatory used a method of stationary observation, marking positions of the Sun at the winter and summer solstice, as well as the equinox. The importance of the site, was confirmed by the U.S. space agency NASA. It appears 4th on the list of old observatories compliled by NASA. 23.97 km NE from Kumanovo center
• SAINT GJORGI CHURCH Saint George church in Staro Nagoricane is believed that was built in 1313, although it has been ascertained that it was erected on the fundaments of an older sacral structure dating from the 11th century and built, according to the tradition, by the Byzantine Tzar Roman IV Diogenes (1067-1071). The year 1313 was imprinted on an inscription over the western entrance door and another inscription located on the southwest wall ascertains that the frescoes were painted in 1317-18. The architecture of the church is three-pole (three-pillar) with a shape of a elongated cross. Five domes rise over the basis – a large octahedron dome in the center and four smaller domes. The lower part of the walls was constructed of cut stone and the upper part by alternate layers of stone and brick giving a serene and impressive (effective) tone (chromaticity). The altar apsis is elegantly (elaborately) parted, hemispherical on the inside and pentahedral in the upper part on the outside. What makes this church exceptional is the preserved original altar partition, that is the iconostasis made of stone pillars, parapet plates and ornamented archigraph. This is a unique example of icons painted in fresco technique in our country. St. George and Mother of God Pelagonitisa have been painted in this technique on the left and right side of the Tsar’s (Lord’s) Gates. However, an interminable importance of this cultural and sacred monument rests in the preserved frescoes painted by the renowned fresco-painters Evtichie and Mihailo. The frescoes have been painted in the paleologic (paleo-) style of the 14th century with outstanding expressiveness, but also a remarkable subtleness, delicate stylization and moderate expression. The portraits of the founders (patrons) of the church, King Milutin and his young wife Simonida, are also impressive. They have been portrayed in the lower part of the northern wall. There are plenty of depictions of saints, life scenes, the sufferings and miracles of Jesus Christ (“The Crucifixion”; “The Way to Golgotha”; “Ascending to the Cross”; “The Mocking of Christ”, etc.) and illustrations of calendars, as well as portraits of local saints – St. Clement of Ohrid (Ohridski), St. Joachim of Osogovo (Osogovski), St. Prochor Pchinski, who according to the legends, lived in a cave near the church before it was built. 11.41 km NE from Kumanovo center
• SAINT NIKOLA CHURCH Saint Nikola church is surrounded by arcades and has a rich interior with galleries, frescoes and furniture. According to an inscription on the south entrance, it was built in 1851 on the same site as a prior church (with the same patron) in the Varosh maalo. 0.26 km NE from main square / Kumanovo
• ZEBRNJAK MEMORIAL Zebrnjak is built during the Serbian occupation of Macedonia (1913-1941). Zebrnjak memorial represents a monument over the Serbian victory against the Ottomans in the First Balkan war in 1912. 9 km ENE from Kumanovo center