The best museums Eastern Macedonia

Opened in 2014, this museum (Музеј на Дејците на ВМРО/Muzej na Dejcite na VMRO) is housed in the beautiful Andronov House, which dates back to the ^19th century. It is dedicated to the local figures of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO, 1894-1934), which fought for the attachment to Bulgaria and/or the independence of Slavic Macedonia. Designed under the nationalist and populist Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski (2006-2016), it is a bit ridiculous with its wax statues and its big hoofed propaganda. But around it, the neighborhood of Novo Selo is pleasant.

This small museum (Музеј на Град Виница) belongs to the town of Vinica with a population of about 8,500. Founded in 2006, it is worth a visit for its amazing collection of terracotta objects from the nearby fortress and other sites from different periods. In particular, it possesses very rare Christian terracotta icons from the^{5th to the7th} centuries. But the most famous of these "Vinica icons", which represents the Old Testament characters Joshua and Caleb, is in the Museum of Northern Macedonia, in Skopje... and on the 200 denar banknotes.

Founded in 1952, this museum (Музеј Струмица/Muzej Strumica) is very well presented compared to what you see elsewhere in the country: good lighting, detailed English explanations... Housed in a former Jewish school, it houses Neolithic and ancient artifacts, church frescoes, glazed ceramics and jewelry from the Middle Ages, an ethnographic collection (beautiful men's costume), weapons from the ^twentieth century... Since it is a "national institution" in charge of local heritage, there is information here about almost all the sites to visit in the region.

This museum (Музеј на Град Штип) is the largest, richest and best presented in Eastern Macedonia. Founded in 1950, it is housed in the former complex of the Arsovi family, which dates back to the ^19th century. In the building to the left of the ticket office is the beautiful archaeological collection. Here you can see the ceramics of the Anzabegovo-Vršnik culture, which developed in the Bregalnica Valley between Kočani and Štip from 5300 to 4200 BCThis is also where most of the finds from the sites of Bargala and the Isar fortress are grouped: for example, statuettes of Greek deities from the Roman period, but also rarer objects left by the Avars who invaded the region in the ^6th century. A small ethnological exhibition is relegated to a room in the basement. The second building, to the right of the ticket office, houses the history department, which focuses on the revolt movements of the ^19th century and the wars of the ^20th century. One part is dedicated to the city's Jewish community, which was wiped out by the Holocaust in 1943. Štip has only one Jewish family left. It also has an old Jewish cemetery, just above the municipal cemetery, 3 km southwest of the center. A memorial to Jewish victims has stood next to the museum since 1985. In addition, the museum has two other collections: icons in the Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God (Novo Selo district, 1.4 km east) and works of art in the bezistan.

Founded in 1964, this museum (Музеј Куманово) is housed in a villa dating from 1926. The entrance is through the garden, where medieval stelae with Old Slavic inscriptions are presented. The departments of archaeology and history occupy the first floor: objects from the site of Kokino (near Staro Nagoričane), beautiful collection of pre-Roman jewelry, photos of the revolts of the ^twentieth century, etc. Upstairs, the ethnology department: costumes, jewelry, pottery and everyday objects from the ^19th-20th centuries. We regret the lack of explanations in English.