Lazaropole is a settlement in the Republic of Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

. Situated on a plateau

Plateau

In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...

 at Mount Bistra

Mount Bistra

Bistra is one of the most interesting mountains in the Republic of Macedonia . The mountain has many peaks higher than 2,000 meters and the highest one is Medenica Peak, 2,163 meters above sea level.Limestone erosion on the mountain created limestone fields...

 and surrounded by beech

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

 and oak

Oak

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...

 forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

; at 1,350 m altitude, it is one of the highest settlements in the country.

The village is named after a local medieval hero, Lazar, who according to legend was the sole survivor of a Turkish attack on his village. The rest of the townspeople were killed in a cave where they had sought refuge, while Lazar, the only survivor, crawled outside and built a new town.

There are about 400 houses in the village. The older ones reveal the traces of the Mijaci

Mijaks

Mijaks are an ethnographic group of ethnic Macedonians who live in the so-called Mijačija area , along the Radika river, in western Macedonia, numbering 30,000-60,000 people...

 highland building style. The village was the birthplace of numerous authors, educators, carvers, teachers, fresco and icon painters, and constructors . Especially picturesque are the village church of St. Gjorgi

Saint George

Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...

, built in 1838, and the small churches in the forests near the village.

The traditional Macedonian folk dance Teškoto

Teškoto

Teskoto , is a Macedonian folk dance.Origins of this folk dance are from the western part of Republic of Macedonia and are related to whole Miak region. This traditional folk dance is the image of the hard life that Macedonian people lived starting from the second half of the 19th century...

 (The hard dance) is from the area of Lazaropole.

People born in Lazaropole

• Simon Drakul, Macedonian writer
• Ante Popovski, Macedonian writer
• Gjurcin Kokaleski
• Anatolij Zografski
• Vasil Ikonomov