museum kumanovo virtual tour (rcku.org.mk)

HAEMUS | Center for scientific research and promotion of culture

Kokino – Archaeological and Astronomical site

HAEMUS part of the Kokino Festival

HAEMUS part of “Kokino – The Fortress of the Sun” festival...

HAEMUS hosted an educational tours at “Kokino – The Fortress of the...

Kokino artefacts.

Past Educational Tours at Kokino by HAEMUS

Game of Thrones – an educational tour to Kokino by HAEMUS

The secrets of the medieval mining in Macedonia 2013 tour

HAEMUS organizes an educational tour for the International Museum Day 2013

Kokino Blog

HAEMUS part of the ‘Europe’s Culture – close to you’ campaign

How the prehistoric music at Kokino sounded like

HAEMUS promotes Kokino – Macedonia’s Bronze Age archaeo-astronomical observatory

Tips and tricks how to get to Kokino – the oldest...

Kokino Observatory

Top choice in North Macedonia

A Bronze Age, archaeo-astronomical site, this megalithic observatory sits atop a volcanic hill, at an elevation of 1013m; it's a truly marvellous place. The cracked volcanic rocks were easily shaped for marking the points of the rising sun at the summer and winter solstice, and the spring and autumn equinox. You'll need your own transport to reach Kokino, 19km northeast of Kumanovo: follow the signs for Staro Nagoričane, then for Kokino. The observatory is signposted.

There are some English-language information boards. If you're here in midsummer, remember to bring a hat and sunscreen, since there is very little shade.

Observe the two platforms, upper and lower, and the four 'thrones'. This was where the bonding ritual between the sun god and their representative on earth – the ruler, who sat on one of the thrones – was meant to take place. The ritual took place after the harvest, when the sun's energy was starting to fade and plant life was at its seasonal end. The ruler's power was said to be reinforced by absorbing the sunlight, reuniting them with the sun god and bringing peace and good crops for the community.

The site's primary purpose was for the daily marking of the rising of the sun and the moon, and measuring the length of the lunar months so that a calendar for a periodic cycle of 19 lunar years could be produced. The exceptional complexity of the calendar shows that the people of the time had a keen understanding of astronomy.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Church of St George

Sitting in the inconspicuous village of Staro Nagoričane, some 15km northeast of Kumanovo, this 14th-century church has some magnificent frescoes and…

Kuklica Rock Formations

12.47 MILES

Natural erosion and its varying effects on the area's volcanic rocks are behind the formation of these bizarre 'rock dolls', which are estimated to be…

Nearby North Macedonia attractions

1 . Church of St George

2 . Kuklica Rock Formations

• +389 71 237 447
• [email protected]

• Kriva Palanka

Kokino & St. Osogovski Tour from Skopje

from 0 review

Full day tour

English, Espanol, France, German, Italian, Russian, Turkish

Departure to Kokino, a megalithic observatory, which is situated in the area of the municipality Old Nagorichane. It is located on the top “Tatikjev stone”, at an altitude of 1.030 m and was named after the nearest village Kokino. The observatory was accidentally discovered in 2001 by Bulgarian and Macedonian archeologists and in 2002 a research was started by the National Museum in Kumanovo. It has been dated to 1.800 years B.C., from the early Bronze Age and has an area of 5.000 m2.

The megalithic observatory is located on a neo-volcanic hill. The rocks are created by hardening of the lava that leaked from a volcanic crater. Time and erosion have made fissures on the rocks and part of these fissures represented markers through which the Sun and Moon cycles were observed and time was measured. The megalithic observatory in Kokino is one of the most important old observatories in the world. Therefore, in 2005, the American Space Agency NASA ranked Kokino as 4th on the list of 15 natural observatories in the world.

We will continue to the monastery St. Joakim Osogovski (11/12th century), located a few kilometers from Kriva Palanka, on the hills of Osogovo Mountain. The monastery is also known by the name Sarandopor, given by the place it was built on. According to historical data, the monastery was first mentioned in the period of King Kalojan (1196 – 1207), who visited the monastery. The monastery has seen a lot of ups and downs in its rich history. It has been visited by many church officials and travelers. Hadzi Stefan Beglikchija in 1847 initiated the construction of the great cathedral dedicated to St. Joakim Osogovski. It was finished and consecrated in 1851.

The monastery is open for visitors, passengers and believers. Nowadays many cultural manifestations take place here, like the International Art Colony “St. Joakim Osogovski”, Summer School of Architecture and the Colony of the Association of Wood-carvers.

Lunch in restaurant VODENICA 3 on Durachka River and return to Skopje

Tour's Location

Skopje Mavrovo Ohrid Tour

Ohrid with St Naum tour from Skopje

One day tour to Nis, Serbia from Skopje

Skopje Tetovo Tour

Enter the e-mail address associated with the account. We'll e-mail a link to reset your password.

• Did you know?

Even  thousands of years ago people in this area observed the skies. The proof of that is the megalithic observatory at Kokino, which dates from 1800 B.C. during the early Bronze Age, and is located on the mountain peak known as Tatikjev Kamen. Here the prehistoric peoples performed ancient rites and rituals, and in this place the cycles of the sun and the moon were followed, and time was measured.

The observatory is situated on a neo-volcanic hill, whose rocks were created as a result of hardening of the lava that came out from the volcanic crater. The cracks that were created during that time provided a means for marking the rising positions of the sun and the moon during equinox and solstice, as well as the places of their deviations.

Although it was discovered in 2001, this primordial Observatory has earned its place on NASA’s list of the world’s most significant ancient observatories, which places Kokino in 4th place.

It is considered that the leaders of the tribe had a privileged position for observing the sky. To feel the connection with the ancient Gods in which these people believed, it is enoughsimply to sit on the thrones carved in the rocks on which these elders sat, and welcome the first ray which will illuminate you during the sunrise.

Contact Form

Home / Projects and documents / A CULTURE HERITAGE-FRIENDLY TOURISM IN CROSS-BORDER REGION BULGARIA -MACEDONIA

A CULTURE HERITAGE-FRIENDLY TOURISM IN CROSS-BORDER REGION BULGARIA -MACEDONIA

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Project acronym: A CULTURE HERITAGE-FRIENDLY TOURISM IN CROSS-BORDER REGION BULGARIA -MACEDONIA

Project start date: 2019-07-12

Project end date: 2020-10-12

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 94 368.60

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 80 213.30

• IPA/IPA II/IPA III: Amount, EUR 80 213.30.

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Brochure / magazine / manual

Data source: http://cci-kn.org/index.php/en/culture-tourism/books-en

Publication date: 2022-01-31

Document date: 2020-02-29

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Document date: 2020-01-31

Data source: http://cci-kn.org/index.php/bg/kulturen-turizam/books-bg

Languages: bg

Data source: http://cci-kn.org/index.php/mk/turisam-za-k-nasledstvo/books-mk

Languages: mk

Data source: https://rcku.org.mk/cultural-heritage/mk/dokumenti/

Document date: 2020-10-12

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://tour.cci-kn.org/en/

Document date: 2020-11-05

Languages: en, mk, bg

Data source: https://tour.cci-kn.org/mk/

Document date: 2020-07-24

Document date: 2020-08-01

Data source: https://tour.cci-kn.org/

Data source: https://rcku.org.mk/cultural-heritage/virtual-tours/

Document date: 2020-08-03

Data source: https://rcku.org.mk/cultural-heritage/videos/

Document date: 2020-10-30

Languages: mk, bg

Data source: https://rcku.org.mk/cultural-heritage/mk/virtuelni-turi/

Type of document: Report

Document date: 2020-03-31

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 Interreg IPA CBC Bulgaria - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

73 / 73 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

151 / 151 (100%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme. Field project name (from 3 projects) translated from Bulgarian into English using the European Commission's eTranslation machine translation service. The projects which fields include an eTranslation English text are the ones with the following acronyms: Saving Inhabitants of One Mountain Along Two Rivers, SAVE US! and Digital Nature. The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

We use our own cookies and also allow third parties to use cookies, web beacons, and other technologies in order to better reach any web users that can benefit from using keep.eu and to better manage this website. Do you agree? Click the button or continue using the website. No, give me more information.

Ancient Megalithic Observatory Kokino

Ancient observatory kokino.

Kokino is a Bronze Age archaeological site in the Republic of Macedonia, approximately 30 km from the town of Kumanovo, and about 6 km from the Serbian border, in the Staro Nagoričane municipality. It is situated between about 1010 and 1030 m above sea level on the Tatikjev Kamen summit and covers an area of about 90 by 50 meters, overlooking the eponymous hamlet of Kokino.It was discovered by archeologist Jovica Stankovski, director of the national museum in Kumanovo, in 2001. In 2002, Stankovski together with Gorje Cenev (who is the head of a planetarium at a Youth Cultural Center in Skopje) published the claim that the site contains a "megalithic observatory and sacred site”

The oldest archaeological finds date from about the 19th century BC, corresponding to the early European Bronze Age. It shows signs of occupation for the period from the 19th to the 7th centuries BC. Finds from the Middle Bronze Age (c. 16th to 14th centuries BC) are the most numerous (mainly ceramic vessels, stone-mills and a few molds). An agglomeration from the Iron Age was discovered in 2009.

The Kokino "megalithic observatory" should be distinguished from the wider Kokino archaeological site. While the observatory consists of two platforms of a combined area of about 5000 square meters, the site covers about 30 hectares. From this area, an abundant amount of fragments of ceramic vessels, dated to between the 19th and the 11th centuries BC. Also found was a mould for casting bronze axes, and a pendant. The remains of vessels filled with offerings were found deposited in cracks in the rocks, which gave rise to the interpretation of the site as a "holy mountain".

The claimed archaeo-astronomical site itself consists of two platforms with an elevation difference of 19 m. The claim of the site representing an astronomical observatory was made by Stankovski and by Gjore Cenev in 2002. According to this interpretation, the site includes special stone markers used to track the movement of the Sun and Moon on the eastern horizon. The observatory used the method of stationary observation, marking positions of the Sun at the winter and summer solstice, as well as the equinox. Four stone seats or "thrones" are placed in a row on the lower platform. According to Cenev, A stone block with a marking on the upper platform marks the direction of sunrise on summer solstice when viewed from one of the seats.

Kokino was mentioned in a poster made by NASA's "Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum" in 2005.

The Cultural Heritage Protection Office of Macedonia's Ministry of Culture declared the site a "property under temporary protection" on 13 November 2008 (Decision nr. 08-1935/6). In 2009, Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kancheska-Milevska declared Kokino "one of the priorities of the Ministry of Culture’s 2009 programme” In 2009, the Republic of Macedonia also suggested the site be inscribed on the World Heritage Site list.

For more detailed information please visit the link:  http://kokinoobservatory.mk/

Travel by bus

If you are considering to go by bus u have a dozen of bus lines between Skopje and Kumanovo. Time travel is 1 hour. Price for one way ticket is 100 denars / 1.6 EUR.  Then you have to call a taxi to get to Kokino.

Time of departure from Skopje: 06:00, 07:00, 07:25, 07:30, 07:45, 08:30, 08:45, 09:00, 09:30, 09:45, 10:20, 10:30, 10:45, 11:30, 11:45, 12:10, 12:30, 12:45, 13:00, 13:45, 14:00, 14:25, 14:30, 14:45, 15:30, 15:45, 16:00, 16:30, 16:40, 16:45, 17:00, 17:45, 18:30, 18:45, 19:00, 20:00, 21:00, 21:15, 21:30.

Note: If you are considering traveling on weekend and holidays please contact the bus station for any changes of the lines.

Travel by train

If you like to travel to Kumanovo by train the time travel is 1 hour. Price for one way ticket is 100 denars / 1.6 EUR and price for two ways ticket is 170 denars / 2.8 EUR.

Time of departure from Skopje: 06:20, 08:20, 11:00, 16:25, 19:00, 20:10, 23:00.

Travel with taxi

If you are not comfortable to travel by train or bus, you can always get a taxi. The price in one way to Kokino is more or less 2000 denars / 32.5 EUR.

We recommended:

ABC Logistica Mob:  +389 78 504 500 Tel:  +398 2 6143 900

Go with a car or rent a car

If you'd like to explore the land during your travel to Kokino you can go by car. Distance between Skopje and Kokino is 70 km.

For rent a car we recommenden:

MIDA Rent-a-car Office 2 (Airport Alexander the Great) Tel/Fax + 389 22 56 10 10 24 hour service phones Mob.1: 070 256 433 Mob.2: 071 223 042 Mob.3: 070 366 958

Accommodation

• Etno Selo "Timcevski"
• Hotel "Stone Bridge"
• Hotel "Premier"
• Hotel "Rose Diplomatique"
• Hotel "Queen's"

Things to do

• Scuba diving
• Mountain Biking
• Paragliding
• Kayaking & Canoeing
• Ski & Snowboard

Travel guide

Mavrovo maximum adventure.

Copyright © 2013 ExploringMacedonia.com All rights reserved address: Partizanski Odredi 62, 1000 Skopje, Makedonija phone: +389 (0)2 3080-111| fax: +389 (0)2 3075-333 e-mail: [email protected] skype: exploring.macedonia