Brajčino (, ) is a village in the

Resen Municipality Resen ( ) is a municipality in southwestern Republic of North Macedonia. ''Resen, North Macedonia, Resen'' is also the name of the town where the municipal seat is found. Resen Municipality is located in the Pelagonia Statistical Region. Geograp ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, situated from

Lake Prespa The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greec ...

, on Baba Mountain in Pelister National Park. The village is also located near the border with

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Brajčino's nature and old architecture draws both domestic and foreign tourists.

History

Brajčino has two known archaeological sites, both dating from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. One of the sites, called St Athanasius, was a church and contained a graveyard. The other, known as Kula, consists of remains of a fortress. In 1873, the village, called ''Raitchino'' at the time, was recorded as having 34 households and 92 male Bulgarian residents. In the early 20th century, the village had 480 Bulgarian residents. During the

Ilinden Uprising Ilinden ( Bulgarian/ Macedonian: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning " Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to: Events * Republic Day (North Macedonia) Republic Day () or Ilinden () is a national holiday in North ...

of 1903, Brajčino was looted and 77 of its houses were burnt down.

Demographics

The village has 134 people as of the 2002 census, of which 133 are

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

and one is

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

. Likewise, 133 residents declared the

Macedonian language Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...

to be their mother tongue, while one declared

.Macedonian census, language and religion
/ref> Brajčino has suffered a steep population decline since peaking in 1991.Censuses of population 1948 - 2002

Religion

In the latest census 67 residents, exactly one-half of the total population, declared their religion to be Orthodox Christianity, while the other half declared their religion to be 'other'. Brajčino has five churches and one monastery. The churches include the Church of St Nicholas, built in 1872, the Church of St Elijah, built in 1919, the Church of the Holy Mother of God, St Archangel Church, and the Church of St Athanasius which was constructed near the archaeological remains of the Middle Aged church of the same name. The village's monastery is St Petka, dedicated to

Parascheva of the Balkans Paraskeva of the Balkans, alternatively known as Petka, was an ascetic female saint of the 11th century. She was born in Epivates, near present-day Istanbul, and had visions of the Virgin Mary. After living in Chalcedon and Heraclea Pontica, s ...

, and was built in two phases, the first in the 16th century and the second in the 18th century.

Tourism

The village has a mountain nature-trail leading from the village to Golemo Ezero atop Baba Mountain. The trail links Prespa Lake with Pelister National Park and provides good views of the mountains. Brajčino is also home to a centuries' old monastery St. Petka which holds its annual celebration every 7 and 8 August. There are also five other churches inside the village: St. Bogorodica, which is located in a cave high up on a mountain; St. Ilja, the village's first school; St. Atanas, said to be built on the spot of an older monastery destroyed by the Turks; St. Arangel, located high in the mountains; and St. Nikola. The village is also known for its architecture. Some examples of Brajčino architecture include the Bey's House and Petre Kostov's House.

People from Brajčino

* Meto Jovanovski, writer *

Lui Temelkovski Ljubomir "Lui" Temelkovski () (born October 4, 1954) is a former Canadians, Canadian federal politician. He was a Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal Parliament of Canada, Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008 who represented the Electoral distric ...

, former Member of Canadian Parliament for the

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

riding of Oak Ridges—Markham

References

External links

Village website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brajcino Villages in Resen Municipality