A settlement in the location of modern Negotino existed and developed in antiquity. Between 278 and 242 BC, a city was founded by King
Antigonus II Gonatas, under the name of
Antigoneia (Αντιγονεία in
Greek). After conquering
Paionia, he conquered the settlements around the central Vardar region. Antigoneia was situated some twelve Roman miles south of the ancient city of
Stobi, on the road to
Thessaloniki, at the location of modern Gradiste, near the railway station of Negotino. At this place, Roman coins were found, as well as precious jewelry and other archeological findings from the period of the
Roman and
Byzantine period. The ancient city existed until the 11th century when it was destroyed by a disastrous earthquake which hit almost all of the territory of Macedonia along with other cities such as
Skupi,
Stobi,
Heraclea,
Astibo, and Idomena. According to the statistics of
Bulgarian ethnographer
Vasil Kanchov from 1900, 2,395 inhabitants lived in Negotino, 1,925 Bulgarian
Christians, 320
Bulgarian Muslims, 90
Vlachs and 60
Romani. From 1929 to 1941, Negotino was part of the
Vardar Banovina of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. ==Transport==