Kratovo, the onetime stronghold of eastern Macedonia, lies between cleft hills in the crater of a dead volcano in the Osogovo Mountains. In Roman times, it was known by the name Cratiscara as a center for mining. In Byzantine times it was called Koritos, and became famous as a center for gold, silver and copper.
While the town maintained this reputation and mining activity during the early Ottoman rule, by 1689 it had been largely abandoned due to Turkish oppression.

Medieval Kratovo was also noted for its literary school, evidenced today by the important and beautiful decorated manuscript known as the Kratovo Four Gospels, written in the mid-14th century.Many remaining cultural monuments, such as the town’s six towers, its bridges and its unique 19th century architecture still attest to the town’s former beauty and wealth.