National architecture in the village settlements of Polog from 19th to the first half of the 20th century

In the region of Polog, with the economic power of the population, in the in frames of the local climate had formed the construction of settlements and housing that were parts of the evaluation process of the national architecture of the Balkans. Alongside the basic one level home, that for a long period of time had fulfilled to the modest needs of the villagers, in the second half of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, a new form was accomplished, this was a double house with a chardak (oriel), which became a dominant feature for the homes. The concept, and the construction of the house was adjusted to the local tradition, thus dominating an open concept for the neighboring space, protection from the hot summers, and use of basic local ecological materials, stone, wood, and earth. The open chardak (oriel) in homes with a lower floor, and first floor, was always the main space. It was current in the dwellings in meadows,and the hill top mountainous settlements. The ground floor with a porch and economic rooms, the first floor with a chardak and living rooms, signified a model that facilitated the needs of a larger community. Yet, the influence of the building groups that where transported from their works abroad, also represented supplements in the appearance of the dwellings, in the interior, and the details in the construction of the houses. However, the interior of the house was furnished with simple elements. The customs connected with the building of home, the use of folk terminology and the anthropologic treatment of space, have similarities and features that are relative in the regions in the other territories of Macedonia