Turning up the hill to the left one reaches the ‘sunken’ Church of Sveti Spas, with impressive 19 th-century wood carvings, and above it the grand Mosque of Mustafa Pasha. Explore Kale, Skopje’s clifftop fortress built in the 6th century The long-established Museum of Macedonia stands here. Other Ottoman structures here include Kapan An and Kurşumli An, former way-stations for traveling merchants and now art galleries. The Čaršija is home to the city’s historic structures from the Church of Sveti Dimitrija, which contains elegant frescoes, to the Daut Pasha Hamam, a former Ottoman bathhouse and now the National Art Gallery. …nevertheless, for some tourists, the fountains are more exhilaratingīefore entering the Čaršija proper, to the right-hand side you have the Archeological Museum, and to the left, the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle for Statehood and Independence (which documents the unsuccessful fight for independence from the Turks in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries), the Macedonian Opera and Ballet, and the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews from Macedonia, which covers the history of the Sephardic Jewish civilization in this part of the Balkans (some 7,200 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps by the occupying Bulgarian army during WWII- only a couple hundred Jews remain today). This side of the river has a larger ethnic Albanian and Turkish population, and you’ll find many traditional gold and silver shops interspersed amidst the antiquarian shops, tea shops and Ottoman attractions. Alexander the Great) and many other historical personages of lesser fame, the square is thronged with cafés, restaurants, shopping centers, fountains, a ceremonial arch and street vendors.Ĭross the Ottoman-era Kameni Most ( Stone Bridge) to enter Skopje’s Old Town (Čaršija), the historic center of public life during the Ottomans’ five-century rule. But as well as the ‘warrior on a horse’ (i.e. The main square radiates with statuary and admiring these works of art is a obvious start when it comes to things to do in Skopje. The city hosts frequent concerts, festivals and events, and by Western European standards is fairly inexpensive. Most of what you’ll want to see and do is within a 10 to 30-minute walking distance, but this small radius contains a great range of history – with remains from Byzantine, Ottoman and Yugoslav times. Skopje is one of Europe’s safest cities, and at less than one million inhabitants is a fairly straightforward deal. Macedonians are incredibly friendly and helpful, and English is spoken widely (especially by younger people). The triumphal Porta Makedonija leads to a square full of statues… But through it all, Macedonians remain remarkably even-keeled, displaying a unique sense of humor in a part of Europe used to such misadventures. Other turbulent events since 2015 have included a political crisis and a wave of migrants passing through from Greece en route to Europe back in 2015. This programme infuriated neighboring Greece, which has a Macedonian province of its own (and has been blocking its northern neighbor since 1992 on membership in clubs like NATO and the EU). In recent years, Skopje has been in the headlines frequently for the former government’s ambitious public works campaign, which overhauled many public buildings with neoclassical facades, erected monuments to national heroes and built new museums, as well as the lesser-discussed, but also significant, improvements made to the public transport infrastructure and the previously bleak city zoo. Skopje’s iconic Ottoman-era Stone Bridge over the River Vardar The Macedonian capital has more than enough sights, sounds and entertainment to fill up your long weekend break – with close proximity to nature getaways in every direction, and quick and easy connections by air, road and rail to European countries. Strung along the River Vardar and marked by cultural monuments old and new, Skopje is a friendly and increasingly visited city in the heart of the Balkans.
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