with its monumental buildings ottoman bazaars and countless statues of all dimensions
the capital of north macedonia is quite unlike any other city in europe - welcome to skopje!
a city little known outside the wider balkan region has risen to the challenge of becoming
an internationally recognised capital city and for the visitor there is plenty to see and do
economically speaking macedonia was the poorest of the former yugoslav republics
so going it alone was always going to be a challenge but the macedonians have been seeking
independence for centuries and they weren't going to let this opportunity slip away, and thankfully
despite the various ethnic groups in the country it largely managed to avoid the conflicts that
enveloped neighboring bosnia and kosovo. the name of the new nation did cause a problem because
historically macedonia covered a much wider region covering a large section of northern greece. after
independence some controversial and cheeky voices even called for reunification the last thing
that greece wanted was to be drawn into another balkan conflict, the two countries already have
their strong differences of opinion over who can claim alexander the great as their national hero.
the controversial issue of the name has now been settled this country is north macedonia!
the riverside area is now dominated by a vast urban development
it was termed skopje 2014. the idea was to create
a capital and also to reclaim macedonian identity the style chosen was well neo-classical
greek stroke macedonian and obviously i've seen lots of pictures because these are the
images of skopje that go around the world and i wanted to keep an open mind see it for myself
but i have to admit it is a little bit caesar's palace las vegas (!) now i could understand one
or two near classical pieces but i do wonder whether maybe an opportunity has been lost
to put some 21st century architecture here that would have really taken the city into the future.
something that isn't fake though is the gorgeous stone bridge dating back to the 15th century.
the most powerful symbol of the new independent republic and the image that has gone around the
world has to be this the enormous warrior on a horse, now so as not to offend greece
it definitely isn't alexander the great, well you know it might be you know, but no officially
it definitely isn't definitely not! one thing's for sure though if you're a history teacher here
in skopje then you have one enormous open-air classroom. this is the mother teresa house a
reimagining of her childhood house here in Skopje where she spent the first 18 years of her life.
it houses a museum and it's a building that has attracted some controversy
but i quite like it it's certainly quirky. so far you're probably wondering this is
a capital city where are all the people? they're here in the old ottoman quarter north of the river
i fully expected the national gallery of macedonia to be housed in one of the colossal new buildings
so i was pleasantly surprised to find that actually you can find it in the intimate
surroundings of an old ottoman bath house or hammam and even more surprising perhaps
is that the contemporary art scene in macedonia is a really exciting
place to be. this is a great museum definitely my favourite in skopje
skopje's most celebrated mosque is that of mustafa pasha it dates back to 1492
and miraculously it survived the great earthquake of 1963. the 15th century sultan murad mosque
is larger and even older than the pasha mosque. it was built by the conquering ottomans on the site
of an already existing christian monastery and it wakes me up every morning at five o'clock with the
call to prayer! the whole complex is justifiably recognised but one of the most important examples
of ottoman architecture anywhere in the balkans (if you can hear me above the crows)
in 1963 Skopje was hit by an earthquake that destroyed over 80 percent of its buildings
and killed over a thousand of its residents. international donations flooded in and a vast
plan for reconstruction was dreamt up under the guidance of the japanese architect kenzo tange.
in the early 60s the material of choice was, of course,
concrete and tange's vision was for a city of formidable brutalist monuments and buildings.
most of his plan was indeed followed through and the legacy of that decision is that Skopje
now has probably the largest collection of brutalist buildings anywhere in the world.
it's very hard to summarize Skopje because there are so many different sides to this city.
at moments it can feel really busy and then suddenly it can seem completely empty,
parts are run down and other parts squeaky clean, there's the contrast of 15th century
mosques against raw 1960s brutalism, and the statues well you have to mention the statues,
for every statue that makes you go wow and take 20 photographs there'll be another that makes you say
what is that? but hey the art, the architecture, it all provokes a reaction, and one thing you
certainly can't say about this capital city is that it's boring, but that's all i've got time for
goodbye from Skopje, subscribe to the channel and i'll see you on the next journey