North Macedonia Republic Day

North Macedonia Republic Day is a major national holiday for the country. It falls on 2nd August, which is also a major religious holiday called llinden. It commemorates two major events in the establishment of the statehood of the country which took place on this date. These are the llinden Uprising of 1903 ,which was organised by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation against the Ottoman Empre, and during which a short-lived Krusevo Republic was proclaimsed, and the first assembly of ASNOM (Anti-facist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia) during World War 2 in Yugoslav Macedonia, which laid the foundation of the SR Macedonia. They have traditionally celebrated this day because of its religious significance with the Christian St. Ellijah. It has been a national holiday since that 1944 meeting. Major gatherings are held in the monasteries, and their is a march of horsemen from the capital Skopje to Krusevo, where the Krusevo Republic was established during the llinden Uprising in 1903. The main celebration takes place there at Mechkin Kamen (Bear’s Rock), where a battle with the Ottoman army took place in August 1903.