During the year only one couple lives up in this remote mountain village: But for one weekend, thousands of visitors descended on Galicnik to celebrate a traditional wedding.
Music from drums and special zurli trumpets filled the narrow streets of Galicnik as the wedding party made its way to the church of St Peter and Paul for the ceremony last Sunday. Spread out along the slopes of the Bistra mountain the streets are lined with traditional houses maintained by natives who return for the holidays, although some of them are in ruins.
The bride arrived at the church on horseback, accompanied by a lively procession of family and friends. She was dressed in 47 different pieces of clothing, each heavily embroidered and decorated with handmade ornaments and carvings, and weighing some 25 kilos in all.
Only the closest family attended the wedding ceremony inside the 14th century church. The other 5,000 or so visitors were seated outside in an amphitheatre, as musicians and dancers entertained them.
The two-day celebration started on Saturday, running through a set of centuries-old customs and dances, including a ceremony inviting dead ancestors to the wedding.
On the eve of her wedding, this year’s bride, 24-year-old dental technician Verica Mitricka, estimated she would need an hour to dress. Her husband, geologist Ljupco Ravanovski, who is originally from Galicnik said he had been dreaming about being married in this ceremony since the age of 15.
Every year several couples apply to be wed in the Galicnik wedding, with the feast paid for by sponsors and the state. Only one couple is chosen and at least one of the partners must have roots in the village to be eligible.
There was a time in the past, when more than 30 couples at a time would marry during the St Peter’s days feasts, Meletije Brkovski, a Mijak writer and historian from Galicnik, fondly recalled.
There were 1,000 inhabitants in 1940 but nowadays only one couple still lives in the village year round, he said. The Mijak tribe, known for their extraordinary wood carving and icon painting, have long had a tradition of men going abroad to work and study.
After World War II and the ensuing communist regime in Macedonia – then part of Tito’s Yugoslavia – the village emptied.