22 December 2008 | In an effort to attract tourists to the town of Krushevo in central Macedonia, its residents intend to re-enact the historical Ilinden Uprising every year between July 5 and August 13.

“In the last years, Krushevo is more and more empty. The main goal is to revive everything that happened here more than a century ago. We have a prepared project that envisions that, between July 5 and August 13, every tourists who visits the place would feel like [he is] in the time when the uprising was being organised. Krushevo’s residents will be dressed as insurgents, Turks, rich citizens and craftsmen,” Kaliopi Boychinovska, head of Krushevo’s historical museum told the Macedonian newspaper Dnevnik.

Around 1,000 of Krushevo’s residents will dress in insurgents’ clothes and other national costumes. According to the publication, local women will sew and embroider the outfits, with financial aid by the state.

It is also expected that money can go towards the renovation of houses so that they can welcome more guests. The plan also includes the reopening of the old bullet foundry and other historical spots as tourist attractions.

The author and ideologue of the “tourist uprising,” Ranko Petrovik from the Bubamara Radio, told Dnevnik that the idea is for the town to begin living as a tourist spot over seven year. The project is self-sustainable. At the beginning it will be financed by the Ministry of Culture, but in three years there won’t be any need for help by the state. The project will sustain itself and will return three times more of initially invested funds.

This will be the only “ethno town” in the Balkans where history is told in an authentic atmosphere, Petrovik told Dnevnik. Beside touristic ones, this should also bring economic benefits to the historical town which for years has been suffocated by economic problems, such as unemployment, he added.

The picturesque mountain town of Krushevo is already a kind of living museum known for its traditional architecture and historical sites, but mainly as the spot where the Ilinden uprising against Ottoman rule took place in August of 1903.

Although the Ilinden uprising was eventually crushed, with thousands of people killed, executed or made homeless during the actual campaign and its aftermath, most historians agree that it managed to nevertheless attract Western Europe’s attention. Historical interpretations of the event often reflect Bulgaria’s and Macedonia’s on-going national aspirations, but the uprising is nevertheless considered as a key event in the history of both countries and it’s leaders are celebrated as heroes.

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Readers' Comments: Krushevo don"t have to spend money to become Ethno town. Already is a Ethno town {have everything from that time}. Just have to build better roads and hotels. Thanks. Vase