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Veles Велес
Town
Seal
Veles Location within North Macedonia
Coordinates: 41°43′12″N 21°47′36″E / 41.72000°N 21.79333°E / 41.72000; 21.79333Coordinates: 41°43′12″N 21°47′36″E / 41.72000°N 21.79333°E / 41.72000; 21.79333
Country	North Macedonia
Municipality	Veles Municipality
Government
• Mayor	Ace Kocevski[1] (SDSM)
Population
• Total	43,716
Demonym(s)	Veleshanec
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	1400
Area code(s)	+389 043
Vehicle registration	VE
Website	www.Veles.gov.mk/

Veles (Macedonian: Велес [ˈvɛlɛs] (listen)) is a city in the central part of the Republic of North Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.

Names

Vilazora was initially the Paeonian city Bylazora from the period of early Classical Antiquity. The city's name was Βελισσός Velissos in Ancient Greek.

Under Turkish rule it became a township (kaza) called Köprülü in the Üsküp sanjak (one of the administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire). From 1877 to 1912 the sandjak was part of the Kosovo vilayet. From 1929 to 1941, Veles was part of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, the city was known as Titov Veles after Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito, but the 'Titov' was removed in 1996.^[2] Cars registered in Veles were identified by the code TV (Titov Veles), which was changed as late as 2000 to VE.

History

Veles in the 19th century.

The area of present-day Veles has been inhabited for over a millennium. In antiquity, it was a Paionian city called Bylazora, and contained a substantial population of Thracians and possibly Illyrians. It was then part of the Byzantine Empire, and at times the First and Second Bulgarian Empire. It became part of the Kingdom of Serbia at the end of the 13th century, while during the Serbian Empire (1345–71) it was an estate of Jovan Oliver and subsequently the Mrnjavčević family until Ottoman annexation after the Battle of Rovine (1395). Before the Balkan Wars, it was a township (kaza) with the name Köprülü, part of the Sanjak of Üsküp.^[3]

Ecclesiastical history

Some identify Veles with the Velitza of which Saint Clement of Ohrid was bishop.^{[4][5][better source needed]}

The Annuario Pontificio identifies Veles instead with the Diocese of Bela, a suffragan of the Metropolitan Latin Archdiocese of Achrida (Ohrid) in Bulgaria, and lists it, as no longer a residential diocese, among the Latin titular bishoprics.^[6] It is probably in Bosnia and Hercegovina ^[7] (modern Velika?).

Modern City

St. Pantelejmon Church in Veles

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles. (December 2016)

Through Macedonia Veles is known as industrial center and recently, as a leader in the implementing of IT in the local administration in Macedonia.

Veles is a place of poetry, culture, history and tradition, as well as a city with plentiful and precious cultural heritage and centuries old churches.

Veles is a municipality of 55,000 residents.^[8]
The geographic location of the city of Veles makes it suitable for hiking and camping, especially at the west side of the city. One such location is the tranquil village Bogomila. Nearby there is the man made lake Mladost, which is known as the city's recreational centre.

Veles made international news in 2016 when it was revealed that a group of teenagers in the city were controlling over 100 websites producing fake news articles in support of U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, which were heavily publicised on the social media site Facebook.^[9][10][1]

Media

Two TV stations operate in Veles -Channel 21 & Zdravkin- and many radio stations.

Sports

Veles has many sports teams, the most popular of which are :

• 
  FK Borec, football (soccer)


• 
  RK Borec, handball


• BK Borec, wrestling


• KK Borec, basketball

International relations

The clocktower in Veles

Twin towns – sister cities

Veles (city) is twinned with three other Balkanic towns :

• 
  Samobor (Croatia)


• 
  Slobozia (Romania)


• 
  Užice (Serbia)


• 
  Sombor (Serbia)


• 
  Niš (Serbia)


• 
  Nowogard (Poland)

Other forms of partnership :

• 
  Pula (Croatia) (Document of friendship and cultural cooperation in 2002)^[11]
  

Notable locals

History, royalty and politics

• 
  Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed, Ottoman grand vizier


• 
  Gheorghe Ghica, Prince of Moldavia


• 
  Metodi Aleksiev, revolutionary


• 
  Jovan Babunski, Chetnik vojvoda


• 
  Panko Brashnarov, revolutionary


• 
  Ilija Dimovski, member of Macedonian Parliament


• 
  Vasil Glavinov, revolutionary


• 
  Ivan Naumov, revolutionary


• 
  Kole Nedelkovski, revolutionary


• 
  Kazım Özalp, Turkish military office


• 
  Faik Pasha, general of the Ottoman Army


• 
  Jordan Popjordanov, revolutionary


• 
  Mile Pop Yordanov, revolutionary


• 
  Lazar Petrović, Serbian general and adjutant of King Aleksandar Obrenović
  

Culture

• 
  Bobby Stojanov Varga, painter


• 
  Kočo Racin, writer


• 
  Rayko Zhinzifov, poet


• 
  Svetozar Ristovski, film director


• 
  Yordan Hadzhikonstantinov-Dzhinot, teacher and publicist


• 
  Zivko Prendzov, art graphic

Sports

• 
  Ezgjan Alioski, footballer


• 
  Panče Kumbev, footballer


• 
  Safer Sali, Olympic wrestler


• 
  Ljubomir Spasik, wildwater canoeist

References

Sources and external links

• Official website of Veles