Kratovo

Kratovo lies on the western slopes of the Osogovo mountains. Its mines produced silver, gold, lead and other metals, attracting Saxon miners and merchants from Dubrovnik in the Middle Ages. Under Ottoman rule it became an important mining and commercial centre; a mint opened in the late fifteenth century and struck silver akçe and later gold coins.

Mining and minting suffered a crisis between about 1520 and 1540 before recovering around mid-century. By the time Evliya Çelebi visited around 1660 the mint had ceased operating, though mines remained active. In 1689 Habsburg forces briefly took the town, which was burned after their retreat, and mining activity shifted toward other centres.