Astibo

About

The name Astibos is first mentioned by the ancient historian Polyaenus in the 2nd century BC, who notes that Paeonian kings did ritualistic bathing in the Astibo/Brigantium (today: Bregalnica ) river, as a coronation ritual. Astibo is also marked in the Tabula Peutingeriana, as one of the stations from Stobi (near modern Gradsko ) to Serdica (today: Sofia ). The name evolved from the ancient Astibos, to Byzantine Stipeon, to modern Štip.

It is generally acknowledged that the Slavic 'Štip' follows Proto-Albanian phonetic rules and was acquired via the Albanian 'Shtip'. Shtip may indicate that Proto-Albanian was spoken in the region in pre-Slavic antiquity. The local Aromanian community also refer to the city as Shtip. [ citation needed ]

The city is located at the intersection of the Lakavica, Ovče Pole, and Kočani valleys.

- the Bregalnica river, which is the second longest in North Macedonia, and

- the Otinja river, which divides the city center. The Isar hill, with its early medieval fortress on top, dominates the city and provides for the common reference as "The town under the Isar".

The area surrounding the city is suffering from deforestation which is contributing to the extreme temperatures, summers being hot and dry with mean temperatures around 32 °C (90 °F) and days above 40 °C (104 °F) being common. Winters are short (usually less than 2 months) and mild (though considered cold for the area) with normal temperatures around −2 °C (28 °F), but with occasional drops down to −10 °C (14 °F). Spring usually comes in February, when most of the foliage is regenerating, although freak snow storms could appear as late as May.

The soil is mostly sandy, and has large patches of red soil ( Macedonian : Црвеница, crvenica ) which indicates large percentage of Iron in the soil.

The geographical area of the city of Štip is bordered

- by the Plačkovica mountain to the east,

- by the Krivolak valley to the southeast,

- by the estuary of the river Bregalnica in the southwest, and

It is probable that the capital of the Paeonian royal house was in the area of Astibus (Astivos, Άστιβος in Ancient Greek ).

The Paeonians were situated in the region west of the fertile Axius river basin, around the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The two tribes that lived along the river Astibo, an estuary to the Axius, were the Derrones, named after their god of healing, Darron, and the Laeaeans, who minted their own heavy coins as a sign of their sovereignty following the example of the Greek city-states on Chalkidiki. Although these tribes were heavily weakened by the Persian invasion of 480 BC, led by King Xerxes I, they remained a formidable power and a well-organized people, renowned for the production of their exceptionally heavy coins with emblems including domesticated specimens of the wild aurochs for which Paeonia was also famous. They were absorbed into the Macedonian Empire by Alexander I before 360 BC.

The area itself is first mentioned in the writings of the historian Polien from the 3rd century BC, who talks of a river named "Astibo" which is presumed to be the river Bregalnica today. Polien also states that the Paeonian emperors were crowned in Astibo.

The first mention of a settlement dates to the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD), when Estipeon is mentioned as an important settlement in the Roman province of Paeonia and the second stop on the Roman road from Stobi to Pautalia.

In the 6th century, the Slavs raided the Balkans and destroyed the Byzantine settlement, and the Slavic tribe of Sagudates permanently settled the area.

Štip was part of the Bulgarian Empire, but after the Byzantine victory in the Battle of Kleidion in 1014 it fell again under Byzantine rule until the reestablishment of the Bulgarian Empire in 1185.

By 1284, Serbian King Stefan Milutin conquered the region; he mentioned Štip explicitly in 1308 and did not wish to give it up to the Byzantines.

In a document of Serbian Tsar Stefan Uroš that dates between 1293 and 1302, in which the citizens of Štip are named, there are several figures listed with Albanian names and anthroponomy. Furthermore, in a 1330 letter by Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan, several figures with Albanian names and anthroponomy (including the last name Arbanasin, which literally means Albanian ) were recorded.

In 1334, the Church of the Holy Archangel in Štip, built by protosebastos Hrelja who held the region under the Serbian crown, was according to his wish granted ( metochion ) to Hilandar, in a charter of King Stefan Dušan.