Bukovo

For other uses, see Bukovo (disambiguation).

Bukovo (Macedonian: Буково, pronounced [ˈbukɔvɔ]) is a village in the Bitola municipality approximately three kilometers' distance from the city of Bitola in North Macedonia.

Bukovo Буково
Village
Bukovo panorama
Bukovo Location within North Macedonia
Coordinates: 40°58′59″N 21°19′59″E
Country	North Macedonia
Region	Pelagonia
Municipality	Bitola
Elevation	821 m (2,694 ft)
Population  (2002)
• Total	3,494
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	7000
Area code	+389 047
Car plates	BT

Not unlike most other larger villages in the country, locals typically distinguish an "upper" (горна) and "lower" (долна) quarter (маала). Historically, the latter developed from the expansion of the former. The neighborhood Bukovski Livadi (Буковски Ливади, "Bukovo Meadows") comprises ten residential streets and is located at the entrance to the village; often considered a part of Bukovo, it is actually a suburb of the City of Bitola.

The village collectively celebrates the Feast of the Transfiguration as its local holiday — referred to as "the Day" (Денот) — after the village's eponymous monastery. The celebration of Lazarus Saturday is also upheld devotedly, a tradition which has very nearly died out in the rest of the country.

The village is famous for its crushed red pepper or chilli flakes which it is credited with inventing.

Demographics

19th-century geographers write that Bukovo was once a completely Orthodox Christian village with a school run by the Patriarchate of Constantinople. According to Bulgarian ethnographer Vasil Kanchov in 1900, the village of Bukovo was inhabited by 1490 Patriarchists Bulgarians.^[1] According to Geographers Dimitri Mishev and D. M. Brancoff, the town had a total population of 2.400 people in 1905, all Patriarchist Bulgarians (sic) "Grecomans".^[2]

According to the 2002 census, the village had a total population of 3,494 people: 3,456 ethnic Macedonians, 11 Albanians, 14 Turks, 1 Aromanian, 6 Serbs and 6 declared as "other".

• 
  A peasant family.
• 
  Ladies' traditional garment.

Historical photographs from Bukovo, c. beginning of the 20th century.

• 
  The main road in Bukovo.
• 
  A view from the main road.
• 
  An old drinking fountain.
• 
  Bukovo Monastery, near Bitola, before 1950

Photographs from Bukovo, March 2012.

References

1. Vasil Kanchov (1900). Macedonia: Ethnography and Statistics. Sofia. p. 236.
2. Dimitri Mishev and D. M. Brancoff, La Macédoine et sa Population Chrétienne, p. 166

1. ^ Шопов, А. Из живота и положението на българите във вилаетите, Пловдив, Търговска печатница, 1893, стр. 269 - 270.
2. ^ Министерство за Локална Самоуправа. База на општински урбанистички планови
3. ^ D.M.Brancoff. "La Macedoine et sa Population Chretienne". Paris, 1905, р. 166-167.
4. ^ Produttori di paprika bukovka
5. ^ Macedonian Census (2002), Book 5 - Total population according to the Ethnic Affiliation, Mother Tongue and Religion, The State Statistical Office, Skopje, 2002, p. 70.