Celebrated on Aug 02

The Republic Day or the Day of the Republic is a major national holiday of the Republic of Macedonia. It is celebrated on the 2nd of August, which is also a major religious holiday - Ilinden (St. Elijah day), according to the Julian Calendar. It commemorates two major events in the establishment of the statehood of the Republic of Macedonia, and which took place on this date:

The Ilinden Uprising of 1903 which was organized by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization against the Ottoman Empire, and during which a short-lived Krusevo republic was proclaimed, and

The First Assembly of ASNOM of 1944, during World War II, which laid the fundaments of the modern Macedonian Republic.

Macedonians have traditionally celebrated this day also called Ilinden because of its religious significance which has its roots in the ancient Slavic beliefs, when the supreme Slavic god Perun was substituted with the christian St. Elijah. It has been proclaimed a national holiday since 1944. Major gatherings are held in the monasteries, and there is a march of horsemen from Skopje, the capital, to Krushevo, where the core of the Ilinden Uprising leaders established the Krushevo Republic in 1903. The main celebration takes place in Krushevo, in the area called Mechkin Kamen (Bear's Rock), where a major battle with the Ottoman army took place in August 1903.