Raotince

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Raotince (spelled Ra-o-teen-tse, aka Raotince; Macedonian: Раотинце) is a village located about 10 miles (14 km) northeast from the city of Tetovo in the Republic of Macedonia.

[edit] History

The village of Raotince is one of the oldest in the Polog Valley. It is believed to be settled some time around the early 1700s. Most of the people that settled the village came from other villages in the area surrounding the Polog Valley and from villages high in the Šar mountain. The settlers that came to the village saw Raotince as an important area, because of its quick access of the Vardar River, which runs through the village.

When Macedonia fell under Serbian rule in 1913, most people in Raotince, along with the rest of Macedonia were forced to change their last names. The common Macedonian last names end with "ski," "ov," or "ev." The Macedonians were forced to change the endings of their last names to end with the common Serbian ending of "ich". During World War II, Raotince was occupied by Bulgarian forces. Due to the wish of the people of Raotince to be part of Bulgarian occupation zone the village was nicknamed "Malka Sofija" or "Little Sofia." The village was disproportionately represented in the Yugoslav Partisans, an indication of discontent over Serbian royal rule.

The people of Raotince are known in the Polog Valley as being patriotic Macedonians. The village is one of the many villages in Macedonia to have St. Ilija as the patron saint. The saint's day is celebrated on August 2, and it is the same day that the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising of 1903.