Outside in the yard of the ethno house “Shancheva” there is the cat that enjoys and patiently waits to get another bite of the delicious food that is prepared in the kitchen. This is the rustic yard of Stevce Donevski decorated in a traditional way in order to show us the way of living in Kratovo, where peace and tranquility reign.

Stevce is a man who worked very hard to bring tourists to this small town. On Google you can see a bunch of photos of foreign tourists that they attach to the profile of the ethno house, impressed by the hospitality of this lovely couple Stevce and his wife Valentina.

Stevce and Valentina decided to buy an old rustic house built about 300 years ago, owned by well-known fabrics merchants from Thessaloniki and Dubrovnik. After the restoration of the house, they decided to keep all the old traditional elements, so that this house could be in some way a museum.

Everyone knows about the family Donevski.

They come from the village of Shlegovo, whose family tradition is the preparation of specialties from recipes over 250 years old. Stefce and his wife Valentina have been part of the Slow Food family for a long time, at whose events they teach the younger generations how to prepare poppy seed salt, as well as homemade bread, pogača (a type of bread baked in the ashes of the fireplace, and later on in the oven, similar to focaccia) and rye bread.

For some time now, the ethno house “Shancheva” has been rented to all interested visitors who wanted to feel the traditional spirit of Kratovo.

The very narrow streets leading to the house, the beautiful location of the house, the wooden floor and ceiling, the wooden stairs and the details such as the traditional clothing and utensils, the casserole and the antiques are the things that tell us about the way of life in the past. That is the reason for the large number of foreign tourists.

What is interesting here and what makes this 300-year-old rustic house special is fact that here is prepared traditional food from recipes old more than 250 years. For the preparation of these wonderful traditional dishes such as the homemade cheese, the season salads made from fresh vegetables picked from their garden, the roasted peppers with garlic and wine vinegar, the traditional tavche-gravche, the homemade pie, the dried vegetables and of course the homemade poppy seed salt, for all this we have to say thanks to Valentina, while Stevce, well he is in charge for welcoming the guests.

Stevce and Valentina receive wonderful comments from everyone who has visited their little traditional paradise.

One of the most common comments is that they are wonderful and cheerful hosts with whom they enjoyed a good chat and had a glass of wine, and the advantage is that they speak English very well which is important for the development of tourism.
Kratovo is a great city to explore. You can visit many things and hear many stories about this place. Many call it an “open-air museum.” Not far from the town is the site “Kuklica”. At this site you can find stone figures that according to scientists were created 10 million years ago.

The vertical erosion of the volcanic rocks has created “dolls” that are ten meters high, which still dominate in the tame environment. As the time pass on, the nature itself sculpted rare masterpieces of them. The Macedonians believe in the legend of the “Wedding” which says that a wedding took place there where the groom, who was endlessly in love with one girl, decided to marry another and because of that the disappointed girl cursed the newlyweds and they all petrified. But whether you believe in this or not, you won’t find such a “wedding” that is protected by the Ministry of Environment.

Our recommendation to all of you is to visit Kratovo at least once in your life. Small towns are a story for themselves. And before leaving the city, don’t forget to buy local handicrafts or spices.