Works of art to see Northern Macedonia

The origins of this aqueduct (Скопски Аквадукт/Skopski Akvadukt, Ujësjellësi i Shkupit) are poorly known. Of the original two hundred or so arches, fifty-five remain, most of which are well preserved, stretching in one piece for 386 m on either side of the Serava River, a small tributary of the Vardar. Used until the ^18th century, the brick and stone structure was used to bring water from the small Skopska Crna Gora (the "Black Mountain of Skopje"), 32 km northeast of the city as the crow flies. There are three theories as to when it was built. In the ^first century AD for the water needs of the Roman colony of Scupi, located 2,200 m to the southwest? This is unlikely, as the aqueduct does not go in that direction at all. In the ^6th century, by the Byzantines for the site of the present fortress of Skopje, 2,600 m to the southeast? It is already more plausible, since the work points more or less in this direction. In the ^16th century by the Ottomans for the numerous baths and fountains in the neighborhood of Stara Čaršija, right next to the fortress? This theory seems to be the right one. It is the one favored by most scientists. But to decide, it would be necessary that the authorities finally decide to finance a real excavation campaign. In the meantime, the development and the protection of the site leave much to be desired, to the point that some inhabitants continue to come to plunder the stones and the bricks of the arches.

This stone bridge (Камен Мост/Kamen Most, or Ura e Gurit in Albanian) is the symbol of Skopje: it connects the western and eastern banks of the Vardar River and appears on the city's coat of arms. It attracts an often dense crowd. Sometimes you have to make your way through the improvised stalls of street vendors. Supported by thirteen arches, its deck extends over 214 m in length and 6.33 m in width. The date of its construction is not known. Some evoke Roman or Serbian origins. The bridge is sometimes called "Dušan's bridge" (Dušanov Most) in reference to the Serbian king who would have built it in 1346. But the most likely hypothesis is that it was built by the Ottomans between 1421 and 1481, shortly after the conquest of the city in 1392. In any case, the bridge is associated with the uprising led by Petar Karpoš in October-December 1689, who was captured by Ottoman troops and ended up impaled in the center of the bridge (the supposed location is marked by a memorial plaque). Several times damaged by the Vardar floods, the bridge was consolidated and widened in 1909. Spared by the earthquake of 1963 and closed to traffic in 1967, it was damaged during the civil war of 2001. Important restoration works were then carried out until 2009. On this occasion, its coating and its parapet were redone. The central arch has also recovered its former watchtower with a mihrab, a niche indicating the direction of Mecca.

This ^16th-century Ottoman bridge (Еленски Скок Мост/Elenski Skok Most, or Elen Skok Köprüsü in Turkish) owes its name "deer jump" to a legend according to which a deer hunted in Mogorče managed to cross the Mala Reka here, before being cured by the inhabitants of Galičnik. The superb stone arch supports a 23 m-long deck. The structure is said to have been designed by Mimar Hajrudin (c. 1490-1570), the designer of the famous Old Bridge in Mostar (1566), Bosnia-Herzegovina. Today, it is used only by hikers and flocks of sheep.