The House of Ḱitanoski family, or House of Ḱitanovci is a

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Vevčani Vevčani () is a village in North Macedonia. It is the only settlement and seat of Vevčani Municipality. Geography The village of Vevčani is found in the southwestern range at the foot of the Jablanica (mountain range), Jablanica mountain ...

Vevčani Municipality Vevčani () is a municipality in western North Macedonia. ''Vevčani'' is also the name of the municipal seat and the only settlement of the municipality. This municipality is part of the Southwestern Statistical Region. Geography The municipali ...

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 ...

. The house belongs to the Ḱitanoski family and the building is registered as a

Cultural Heritage of North Macedonia Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

History

Andre Kitanoski started building the house, who bought the lot in 1898, and the foundation stone was laid in the spring of 1904. The ceremony was attended by the valija of

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

and the ''

çavuş Çavuş, also anglicized Chaush and Chiaus (from / ; ; from Old Turkic ''Çabuş'' or ''Çawuş'', "person who gives order or yells") was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman title used for two separate soldier professions, both acting as messengers altho ...

'' with about twenty soldiers. The house was completed in 1906. About 2,500 cubic meters of stone have been incorporated into the entire

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

(the house, the courtyards, the premises for the goods and the economy, the barn, the hut and the walling of the gap and the entire space). During the construction period, 25 workers were constantly hired, and beams and other material were brought from the

Jablanica Mountain Jablanica ( ; ) is a mountain range stretching between the state borders of Albania and North Macedonia. The larger section of the range is located within Albania, where it forms part of the Shebenik National Park, bounded by the municipalities ...

. The stone, which was carved by the famous masters of

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

from the Drimkol region, was paid for in

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. There was also a family guardhouse, to guard the children and women from the

Arnaut Arnaut () is a Turkish ethnonym used to denote Albanians. ''Arvanid'' (), ''Arnavud'' (), plural: ''Arnavudlar'' (): modern Turkish: ''Arnavut'', plural: ''Arnavutlar''; are ethnonyms used mainly by Ottoman and contemporary Turks for Alban ...

(

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

) gangs, whose targets of attacks were rich migrant working families. In 1941, part of the property of the house was confiscated by the Albanian authorities. Later, the

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

was also located here. During the

National Liberation Struggle Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

, in 1944 the first meeting of the NLB for the Greater Struga Region was held in the house. The first People's Board of the Struga District was established in it. As a sign of merit, on August 2, 1954, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the house.

Architecture

The house of Ḱitanovci is a highly developed

with a three-part division of the base and a centrally placed ''

chardak A chardak ( Bulgarian, Macedonian and , ''čardak'') is an old typical house in the Balkans. It is derived from the word ''çardak'', which is a component of Ottoman Turkish house design. This term, which is also called ''sofa'', denotes an open ...

''. The

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic Church, Catholic, and Lutheranism, Lutheran churches. The most common subjects include Jesus, Mary, mother of ...

-protector of the house is the

Mother of God ''Theotokos'' (Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-bearer ...

, brought from

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

, which was embedded in one of the walls, in the presence of three

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

priests. The

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

in the house was brought from

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

centers, and all the income that the family earned from the restaurant on the coast of the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, was directed to building the house in the highest style.

Notable people

; People who lived in the house * Misho Kitanoski -

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for work or a project such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists wh ...

and

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

;People who stayed in the house *

Kuzman Josifovski Pitu Kuzman Josifovski Pitu (Macedonian language, Macedonian: Кузман Јосифовски – Питу; 23 June 1915 – 25 February 1944) was a Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian communism, communist Yugoslav Partisans, partisan and one of t ...

and

Vlado Maleski Vlado Maleski (; 5 September 1919 – 23 September 1984) was a Macedonian writer, publisher and partisan. He published several novels and short stories, was the author of the Macedonian national anthem "Denes nad Makedonija" (), and the script f ...

stayed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

The house mentioned in art

The first

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 ...

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

with 87 words was made in this house. The house is mentioned in the

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

''U Kitanoj'' (Macedonian: ''У Китаној'', lit. In the Kitan's (house)) by Sašo Betoski, and ''Kuḱata vevčanska kitanoska'' (''Куќата вевчанска китаноска'', lit. The Kitanoski's Vevčani House) by Vasil Mukaetov.

Gallery

Викиекспедиција во Дримкол 88.jpg, An informational plaque of the house Викиекспедиција во Дримкол 87.jpg, View of the house Викиекспедиција во Дримкол 89.jpg, A memorial-plaque dedicated to the NLS meeting Викиекспедиција во Дримкол 90.jpg, View of the house

References

External links

{{Commons-inline, House of Ḱitanovci Houses in Vevčani Cultural heritage of North Macedonia Houses completed in 1906