Papradište is a village located on the slopes of Dautica Mountain, southwest of Veles. At the moment there are less than 10 people living in the village.
I wanted to learn more about the village from the locals and so I started a conversation with Mr. Petre who worked tirelessly in his yard. He told me that at the end of the 18th-century people from the Mijak region (western Macedonia) were escaping from the Albanian kachaks’ attacks and that’s how Papradište got inhabited. Before the emigration started, there were more than 120 households and around 700 inhabitants in the village.
Mr. Petre is now living in Papradište with his wife and they are staying there until November. Before Mr. Petre asked Mrs. Vaska to be his wife, they were neighbors. They got engaged and Mrs. Vaska waited for Mr. Petre for three and a half years to return from the army. After he had returned home, she moved to his house and they started living together. The people from Papradište married only Mijaks either from the same village or from the neighboring village Oreše.
As we entered their house Mrs. Vaska showed me the room where she dries sorrel (a meadow plant used for preparing traditional dishes). After a while, their neighbors who were also staying in Papradište just during spring and summer entered their house. They were helping each other and enjoying their retirement days in the beautiful Papradište.
After we finished drinking coffee, Mr. Petre went back to his everyday activities. We said goodbye and he asked us to come back someday again.
Across the road, I met Mr. Velo and Mrs. Verka. They are wonderful people who also stay in Papradište until the beginning of winter, after which they plan to go back to Skopje.
Mr. Velo’s main occupation was craftsmanship. He told me that the people of Papradište were great craftsmen, bricklayers, and house painters. He said that Papradište was home to many Macedonian intellectuals and artists such as Dimitrija Čupovski, Dimitar Andonov – Papradiški, Georgi Zografski.
Mrs. Verka showed me the only photograph they have from their wedding. They looked beautiful in the Mijak traditional clothes. She also showed me around the house and how she prepared sorrel and different types of teas and she let me see the chest in which she transferred her clothes and other personal things from her house to the house of her husband on the day of their wedding. Her name and the wedding day date are engraved on the chest.
Photo & Теxt by Filip Nedelkovski
Papradište je selo koje se nalazi na obroncima Dautice, jugozapadno od Velesa. U ovom selu trenutno živi manje od 10 ljudi.
Želeo sam da malo više saznam o ovom selu od lokalaca, te sam tako započeo razgovor sa gospodinom Petre koji je neumorno radio u svom dvorištu. Gospodin Petre mi je rekao da su krajem 18. veka stanovnici Mijak regije (zapadna Makedonija) bežali od napada albanskih kačaka i tako je naseljeno Papradište. Pre emigracije u ovom selu bilo je 120 domaćinstava i oko 700 stanovnika.
Gospodin Petre sada živi u Papradištu sa svojom ženom i ostaće tu sve do novembra. Pre nego što je zaprosio svoju ženu, gospodin Petre i gospođa Vaska su bili komšije. Nakon što su se verili, Vaska je čekala svog muža tri i po godine da se vrati iz vojske. Kada se konačno vratio, ona se preselila kod njega i počeli su da žive zajedno. Stanovnici iz Papradišta stupali su u brak samo sa Mijacima, ili iz njihovog sela ili iz obližnjeg sela Oreše.
Kako smo ušli u njihov dom, gospođa Vaska mi je pokazala sobu u kojoj suši kiseljak (vrsta livadske biljke koja se koristi za spremanje tradicionalnih jela). Nakon nekog vremena, došle su i njihove komšije, koje takođe žive u Papradištu samo tokom proleća i leta. Oni se međusobno pomažu i uživaju u penziji u prelepom Papradištu.Nakon što smo popili kafu, Petre je nastavio sa svojim svakodnevnim aktivnostima. Pozdravili smo se i rekao nam je da dođemo nekada opet.
Preko puta sam upoznala gospodina Veloa i gospođu Verku. Oni su divni ljudi koji takođe ostaju u Papradištu sve do početka zime i potom odlaze nazad u Skoplje.Po svom glavnom zanimanju gospodin Velo je pre svega zanatlija. Rekao mi je da su ljudi iz Papradišta odlične zanatlije, zidari i majstori. Takođe, u Papradištu su nekada živeli i mnogi intelektualci i umetnici kao što su Dimitrija Čupovski, Dimitar Andonov-Papradiški, i Đorđi Zografski.
Gospođa Verka mi je pokazala njihovu jedinu fotografiju sa venčanja na kojoj izgledaju prelepo u mijačkoj tradicionalnoj nošnji. Takođe me je sprovela kroz njihovu kuću i pokazala mi kako sprema kiseljak i druge vrste čajeva, kao i kovčeg u kojem je prenela svoju odeću i sve svoje stvari na dan venčanja. Njeno ime i datum venčanja su ugravirani na kovčegu.
Gospođa Verka je želela da predstavi Papradište na najbolji mogući način. Pozvala me je da probam njen tradicionalni gulaš sa kiseljkom, koprivom, lobodom i rusom. Ovaj gulaš može da se jede uz domaći jogurt ili hleb koji gospođa Verka odlično pravi.
Fotografije i tekst : Filip Nedelkovski