Skopje - part 2

The first word that comes to my mind when I think about Skopje is monument. The reason is very simple. The capital of Macedonia is full of monuments, especially statues. It seemed to me that there were .... everywhere. It wasn't easy to count them, so I don't know how many statues are there and what's more, I can't find any information on the Internet.

 

 

   A little bit of history: 

• Almost 80% of the city was severely damaged by the earthquake in 1963. Tens of thousands of people were left  homeless. The rebuilding of the capital was largely completed by 1980.  

• Thirty years later, in 2010, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia has decided to give Skopje a new, classical look. There were two main purposes of the project called Skopje 2014 (it was meant to be finished in 2014) : to attract more tourists and to present the most famous people from Macedonia, and in general the history of the country. It's worth noting that this project has cost more than EUR 500 million.

There is no doubt that the new look of the city brings visitors, but a lot of local people says that Skopje became the city of kitsch. Moreover, many Macedonians state that it's a waste of money. Bearing in mind that many of them live in poverty, it's true.  Sasha ( if you want to find out who he is, read my previous post :) ) told me that for example a signle student room in Skopje costs about € 70 per month and it's a big expense for many people.

Nevertheless, from my perspective, the result of the project is really surprising and impressive in some way. Sometimes, walking around the city, a tourist can feel a bit overwhelmed by all these monuments, but on the other hand it's an unparalleled view. 

Obviously, it was impossible to take pictures of all the buildings and statues, so I put here only some of them. ;)

Not everyone knows that Skopje is a hometown of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was a catholic missionary. To commemorate her presence in the town, there was built the Mother Teresa Memorial House.

It's a modern version of her birth house. In the same time, it has a sacral character, because a part of her relics is kept inside. There is also a museum and a chapel.

In different parts of the city, tourists can find some of her thoughts like for example:

It's just impossible to describe this city in only two blog posts, I showed you only a part of Skopje. However, there are also other amazing places to visit in Macedonia. :)