The best museums Northern Macedonia

This national gallery (Галерија на Икони/Galerija na Ikoni) is the jewel of the country's museums. The basement room, without much interest, contains recent icons and liturgical objects. But the main room, on the first floor, contains the thirty-six most valuable icons of Ohrid. Here is our selection.

Forty Martyrs of Sebaste - V. 1070 - 43,5 x 33 cm . This is the oldest representation of this type in the world and the second oldest icon in the gallery after the one of St. Basil the Great and St. Nicholas (no. 272) dating from 1045/1055. Painted for the Saint Sophia Cathedral, it illustrates the martyrdom of forty Christian legionaries put to death on the frozen lake of Sebaste (Sivas, Turkey) during the winter of 320. This episode is common in Eastern iconography. It is striking for the strength of conviction and stoicism of the martyrs. But it is especially important politically: it serves as a pretext for Constantine to take over the entire Roman Empire and become the champion of the Christians.

Annunciation - Two icons with riza - c. 1115 - 111 x 67,5 cm (each ). This diptych comes from the nearby church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos and bears on the reverse the name of its patron, the archbishop of Ohrid Leo II Mung (1108-1120). It illustrates the announcement to Mary of her divine motherhood by the archangel Gabriel. Each of the two figures is painted on a different support whose background and edges are covered with a superb riza. This protection in embossed metal is used here to "paint" the halos, the background with plant motifs and the holy figures on the sides. Thus, around Mary appear her parents Joachim and Anne, Christ, Saint John the Baptist and various saints and prophets. Mary's raspberry red maforii is held by two semi-precious cut stones.

Christ Pantocrator - With riza - 1262/1263 - 134,5 x 93 cm. This is the oldest icon in the region with an exact date. Behind it is also the name of the patron, the most erudite archbishop of Ohrid, Constantine Kabasilas. Destined for the church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos, it depicts the "all-powerful" Christ(pantokrator in Greek) draped in blue and gold with a halo made of a golden riza. The proportions are not realistic: the shoulders are too narrow, but this allows the painter - anonymous - to highlight the face and hands. The right hand with two outstretched fingers symbolizes the double nature, human and divine, of Christ.

Mother of God Hodegetria (with riza) and Crucifixion of Christ - Second half of the ^13th century - 95,5 x 65 cm. This icon painted on both sides was made by two of the greatest medieval artists of the Balkans, Michailis Astrapas and Eutychios, to whom we owe in particular the frescoes of the church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos. On the front: the Mother of God Hodegetria ("Leader"). The painting is completed by a riza with hammered halos and filigree background. On the reverse: the crucifixion of Christ with the Virgin and the apostle John. The gallery has two other "double-sided" icons that were intended for processions, one of which is magnificent, from the beginning of the ^14th century, showing the Annunciation and, on the front, the Mother of God Psychosostia ("Savior of souls").

Saint Clement of Ohrid - In relief - late ^13th century - 140 x 35 cm. If it looks like a wooden statue, it is in fact an "icon in relief", a very rare type of icon in Byzantine art. It comes from the church of the Mother of God-Perivleptos and is the only one of its kind in the country. The appearance of icons in relief in the ^13th century could be linked either to the first engraved wooden iconostases or to the Western influence after the capture of Constantinople by the Latins in 1204.

Saint Marine - V. 1754 - 92,5 x 60,5 cm . This is one of the most outstanding icons in the gallery. It was made by Constantine of Shpat, master of the school of Berat, in Albania. The saint, known in the West as Margaret of Antioch, died a martyr in 305. As in another icon in the gallery (no. 158), she is traditionally depicted wielding a hammer to slay a demon and/or dragon. Twelve vignettes depict scenes from her life (temptations of the devil, appearance of the dove of the Holy Spirit, etc.) and her martyrdom. Perpetually subjected to temptation, she took a vow of chastity. But for having rejected the advances of the Roman governor Olybrius, she was tortured and put to death. The Romans are represented here as Ottomans, Olybrius being dressed as a pasha. An anachronism probably very voluntary.

Mother of God Panton Chara - 1844 - 57 x 41 cm. It was made by the great Mijak painter Dico Zograf for the church of St. John in Kaneo. It belongs to the subcategory of the "Joy of All"(Panton Chara in Greek), which is related to the icons of the "unfading rose" (evocation of virginity). The Christ child is dressed in the orange-golden garb of the high priest. The inscriptions are written in both Greek and Old Slavonic. At the bottom are six portraits of saints. The last one on the right wears the red Arabic fez adopted in the Ottoman Empire from the ^nineteenth century. He also wears an embroidered vest and a fustanelle typical of the Greco-Albanian region of Epirus. It is the neo-martyr Saint George of Ioannina (Greece), killed in 1838 for having renounced Islam and converted to Christianity.

Located above the Vardar River, past the Skopje fortress, this national museum (Музеј на Современа Уметност Скопје/Muzej na Sovremena Umetnost Skopje, Muzeu i Artit Bashkëkohor nga Shkupi) was established in 1970. It houses one of the most important contemporary art collections in the Balkans. It was founded after the 1963 earthquake, thanks to an appeal for donations launched by Jean-Paul Sartre and other European intellectuals. A total of 3,000 works were donated by artists and cultural foundations from 60 countries. As a result, the museum presents a fairly comprehensive panorama of the creative output of the 1960s-1970s, much of it European. The building itself is very attractive. Designed by a collective of Polish architects and renovated in 2014, it offers beautiful views over the Vardar and Skopje's western shore. In a vast, immaculate 5,000^m2 space, works by such great names as Pierre Soulages, Niki de Saint Phalle, Kristo, Fernand Léger, David Hockney and Bernard Buffet are on display. Creations from the former Yugoslavia are in the majority, with many works by artists from what is now North Macedonia. Among them are the very fine works of Jordan Grabuloski, creator of the Makedonium de Kruševo. But the main piece is the painting Tête de femme (1963) donated by Pablo Picasso. It is not on display, but can be shown on request. The museum also organizes temporary exhibitions throughout the year.

This former hammam (Даут-Пашин Амам/Daut-Pašin Amam, Hamami i Daut Pashës) was one of the largest in the Ottoman Empire. It houses the National Gallery of Macedonia (Национална галерија на Македонија/Национална Галерија на Македонија, Galeria Kombëtare e Maqedonisë), founded here in 1948. The building was erected around 1480 on the initiative of the Ottoman governor of Rumelia Davud Pasha, who later served as grand vizier of the Empire from 1482 to 1497. Like the hammam Čifte, it had two parts one for men and the other for women. The ensemble is surmounted by two domes, which each covered a hot room, and eleven domes above the rest of the facilities. The interior retains some ornaments such as carved stalactites or floral reliefs. It houses nine rooms where some of the most valuable paintings of the country are gathered. In room 1 there is a collection of icons from the ^14th to the ^17th century. Among them, note the movingVirgin of Lesnovo (^14th century) and the Annunciation (^16th century) which incorporates elements of Italian art, while the Holy Spirit is represented by a kind of black beam typical of the Serbian-Byzantine style. This is followed by room 2 dedicated to the "Macedonian Renaissance" (^19th-20th centuries), and then a large space dedicated to contemporary art (rooms 3-9) with works by the great painters Nikola Martinoski (1903-1973) and Petar Mazev (1927-1993). The garden is decorated with statues and sculptures.

This gallery (Галерија Мартиноски/Galerija Martinovski) was founded in 1968 in a beautiful traditional ^19th-century house. It is dedicated to the Aromanian painter from Kruševo Nikola Martinovski (1903-1973). Trained at the Grande Chaumière academy in Paris between 1927 and 1828, he is considered the founder of contemporary art in what is now North Macedonia. The two floors feature 62 works by the painter (oils, tempera, drawings, etc.), some of his personal effects and an exhibition of traditional local costumes.

This national museum (Народен Музеј во Охрид/Naroden Muzej vo Ohrid) is housed in an elegant Bulgarian-Ottoman house built on four levels between 1827 and 1865 by the Robev family (Куќата на Робевци/Kuḱata na Robevci). Since 1951 it has housed the largest part of the region's archaeological collections. On the first floor, the former stables house the lapidary collection with milestones from the Via Egnatia (^3rd century) and tombstones from various ancient necropolises. Note two engraved stones from the Hellenistic period (c. 200 BC) that come from the ancient theater of the city. They represent the Greek god Dionysus accompanied by his muses. On the second floor are reconstructed the apartments of the Robevs, a rich family of merchants and doctors who were at the origin of the "Bulgarian Renaissance" of Ohrid in the ^19th century: furniture, clothes, a large portrait of Constantin Robev, his doctor's bag, etc. The most valuable part of the archaeological collection is on the second floor. It includes coins, jewelry from the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Roman glass bottles and a superb statue of the Egyptian goddess Isis (^2nd century BC). The latter is the centerpiece of the museum. It bears witness to an "oriental" cult that developed in the Greek world after the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Neolithic tomb and view of the lake. One room houses the reconstruction of a Neolithic tomb found in the Samuel fortress. It is presented on a turntable, with jewelry and gold objects. On the third floor there is a reconstruction of the Robev family's large reception room with some examples of traditional wood carvings and a beautiful view of the lake. The museum is part of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and National Museum of Ohrid (Завод за Заштита на Спомениците на Културата и Народен Музеј во Охрид/Zavod za Zaštita na Spomenicite na Kulturata i Naroden Muzej vo Ohrid). This public organization manages various sites in the city, including the Uzunov House, located opposite the Robev House, or the National Gallery of Icons. Its headquarters are located in the former Radnička school, a vast neoclassical building from 1922 that dominates the old town in Uzunov street. It does not house any exhibitions, but the offices are open Monday to Friday from 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.

The Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of Macedonia (Меморијален Центар на Холокаустот на Евреите од Македонија/Memorijalen Centar na Holokaustot na Evreite od Makedonija, Qendra Memoriale të Holokaustit të Hebrenjve nga Maqedonisë) is located on the site of Evresko Maalo, the former Jewish quarter of Skopje that disappeared in the 1963 earthquake. Created as part of the "Skopje 2014" project, it is installed in a rather ugly gray building. The exhibition recalls the long tradition of local Jewish culture and its brutal end with the deportation of 7,143 Jews from the territory of present-day North Macedonia to the Treblinka death camp in 1943. Today, there are only about 100 Jews left in the country. The Jewish presence in the region dates back to antiquity, but the vast majority of Jews in the Balkans (from Sarajevo to Thessaloniki via Skopje, Štip and Bitola) are descendants of the Sephardim expelled from Spain in 1492 and welcomed here by the Ottomans. At the entrance, the name of the museum is written in Ladino (a language with Castilian vocabulary and Hebrew syntax): Sentro Memorial del Holokausto de los Djudios de la Makedonia. On two levels, the memorial exhibits a cattle car that was used for the deportation of the Jewish inhabitants, portraits and documents of the period, in the form of paintings or interactive screens. The purpose of this place is not only to remember this community, but also to propose bases for reflection for today's multicultural society.

This museum houses temporary exhibitions of contemporary art and the archaeological discoveries of the region. The emblematic illyrienne statuette of the Menada goddess is however at the national museum in Skopje.

Founded in 1983, this national institute and museum (НУ Завод и Музеј Битола/NU Zavod i Muzej Bitola) is very disappointing. While the collections are rather rich, the exhibition spaces seem neglected, mired in outdated museography. Only one room benefits from a careful presentation: the one devoted to Mustafa Kemal, known as Atatürk. Indeed, the founder of modern Turkey studied here from 1896 to 1899, in what was once an Ottoman military academy founded in 1848. But this Turkish-funded space is all about propaganda, and lacks any original objects. There are also virtually no icons. Yet the institution houses the country's only laboratory working on the renovation of sacred images. And what about the masterpiece, the "Inscription of Bitola" (^11th century)? It's not even on display. It's easy to see why: this stone confirms that Emperor Samuel, who died in 1014, was indeed Bulgarian and not "Macedonian", as the country's official history would have us believe.

Navicelle earrings. Now for the good stuff. Among the oldest objects is the fossil of a mastodon tooth unearthed in the large Suvodol coal mine, 21 km east of Bitola. It belonged to an ancestor of the mammoth that lived here fifteen million years ago. As far as the Neolithic is concerned, we're surprised by this small house found at Porodin, 12 km to the south-east. Made of clay between 5800 and 5200 BC, it stands out for its human details, such as the head-shaped chimney. It served as a temple for the worship of an unknown divinity. In the Antiquity section, note this superb gold earring with navicelle (shaped like a small ship) from the ^4th century B.C. It was discovered in the tomb of a Hellenized princess near Beranci, 16 km to the north. Also of note is the marble mask of Heracles, dating from the ^2nd century A.D. It was used to decorate the theater at the Herakleia Lynkestis site. Contemporary history focuses on traditional costumes, revolutionary movements and World War II partisans. The First World War is quickly dispatched, and not without error: a German helmet presented as French. It is also regrettable that the rich and tragic history of Bitola's Jewish community is presented so succinctly. In the contemporary art section, a few paintings stand out, such as portraits by Peco Vidimče (1921-2010) from Bitola and Nikola Martinoski (1903-1973) from Kruševo.

This private museum (Етнолошки Музеј во Подмочани/Etnološki Muzej vo Podmočani) was established in 1993 by the Eftimovski family. It houses over 3,000 objects (jewelry, coins, furniture...), including the largest collection of traditional costumes in North Macedonia with almost every region represented. Note that the village of Podmočani (approx. 260 inhabitants) has a strange name meaning "under the pee": an unfortunate deformation of the word močurište ("marsh").

Housed in a former school surrounded by greenery and peacocks, this private museum (Музеј на Виното Демир Капија) is open since 2010. Inside, a real bric-a-brac awaits you: wine containers from the 1930s of the royal family of Serbia, antique pottery, old photos of Demir Kapija's first tractor, stills, numismatic collection, traditional clothing, an exhibition on the birds of the region... An inventory à la Prévert as poorly presented as interesting.

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.

Founded in 1938, this national museum (Музеј Д-Р Никола Незлобински/Muzej D-R Nikola Nezlobinski) houses the natural science collection of Russian-Yugoslav physician Nikola Nezlobinski (1885-1942). Trained in St. Petersburg, Nezlobinski found refuge in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the Russian Revolution of 1917, and from 1924 was responsible for combating malaria in Struga. His collection includes taxidermized specimens of numerous species from Lake Ohrid, the Prespa lakes and Mount Galičica: butterflies, birds of prey, fish, etc.

Established in 2002, this small, privately owned print shop-museum (Национална Работилница за Рачна Изработка на Хартија/Nacionalna Rabotilnica za Račna Izrabotka na Hartija, National Workshop For Handmade Paper) offers reproductions of old works and documents using a variety of handcrafted techniques. There are demonstrations of papermaking, including a replica of the letterpress developed by Gutenberg in 1440. Sale of handmade paper and various prints.

This national museum founded in 1926 (Природонаучен Музеј на Република Македонија/Prirodonaučen Muzej na Republika Makedonija) has been housed since 1969 in an austere five-storey concrete building at the entrance to City Park and along Ilinden Boulevard. A rich collection of the country's geology, fossils, flora and fauna. The hundreds of naturalized animal and insect specimens are well presented. English translations, however, are a rarity here.

Opened in 2011, this small private museum (Музеј на Долард/Muzej na Dolard, A. den Doolaard Museum) is dedicated to the Dutch writer A. den Doolaard (1904-1994). He wrote about present-day North Macedonia from 1934 and was particularly interested in Ohrid. The city attracts many tourists from the Netherlands. Installed in the Cultura 365 center, the museum consists of photos and excerpts from books by the writer. Since 2006, a monument also pays tribute to him in the park "Holland", south of the Macedonian quay.

This municipal museum (Музеј на Град Неготино) was founded in 1978. It includes a rich archaeological collection from the nearby site of Antigonia (^3rd century ^BC-3rd century AD): votive statuettes, ceramics, jewelry, weapons, coins or even tombstones displayed in the lapidarium, outside. The history section covers the founding of the present city in 1800 and the two world wars. The ethnographic collection is also interesting, largely devoted to viticulture.

Housed in an elegant early ^20th-century building, this museum founded in 1946 (Народен Mузеј/Naroden Muzej) houses collections of archaeology, history, ethnology and art history: beautiful costumes from Povardarie, traditional house interiors, objects from the ancient site of Stobi... Of particular interest are the finds from the Neolithic sites of Čaška and Kartalica: figurines, necklaces, bracelets, pendants, amulets and a very rare globular flute. The latter dates from 4000-5000 BC and belonged to the Anzabegovo-Vršnik culture.

Located in Stara Čaršija, between the Mustafa-Pacha mosque and the Kuršumli caravanserai, this museum (Музеј на Република Северна Македонија/Muzej na Republika Severna Makedonija, Muzeu i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the largest in the country. Founded in 1924, it has been housed since 1976 in a vast concrete building with cubic forms that advance in terraces. Designed by architects Kiril Muratovski (b. 1930) and Mimoza Nestorova-Tomić (b. 1929), it boasts 6,000^m2 of exhibition space divided between three sections of ethnology, archaeology and art history. However, it suffers from a dated presentation and, above all, from competition from the National Archaeological Museum. Part of the archaeology collection has been transferred to the latter. In the process, 130 objects have disappeared, probably stolen. The ethnology section includes some sixty traditional costumes from all regions of the country. Note in particular this wedding dress from Mariovo, in the south. It weighs 40 kg and comes with a wig that the bride had to wear for a month after the ceremony, as a symbol of her virginity. Photos and models show the different architectural styles of traditional housing, as well as pottery and fishing activities.

Goddess Menada and Virgin Pelagonitisa. The archaeology section covers a broad period from the ^6th millennium BC to the ^7th century AD. It contains Neolithic votive statuettes, pottery from various periods and the famous Illyrian statuette of the goddess Menada (^6th century BC) from Tetovo. Also on display are the statue of the "Modest" Venus from the site of the ancient Scupi and some of the very rare Byzantine terracotta icons from Vinica (near Kočani). The art history section focuses on Christian art from the ^10th to the ^19th century, with the country's second-richest collection of painted icons, after that of Ohrid. The masterpiece comes from the monastery of Zrze (near Prilep). It is the icon of the "Pelagonian Mother of God" (Bogorodica Pelagonitisa), executed in 1422. The infant Christ appears without a halo, almost "disarticulated", in an astonishing position, as if performing a rotational movement, placing his head against that of his mother and caressing her face with his left hand. The section also includes copies of Byzantine church frescoes.

This memorial-museum (Меморијален Музеј Смилево/Memorijalen Muzej Smilevo) was established in 2004 in a new, old-style building in Smilevo (population approx. 210), the village where Dame Gruev was born in 1871. Here, he was the founder of the Macedonian Internal Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) in 1893, took part in the Ilinden uprising in 1903 and was killed by the Ottomans in the Maleševo massif in eastern Macedonia in 1906. The museum houses a reconstruction of the hall where the founding congress was held in 1893, as well as traditional costumes from the region.

Opened in 1989, this national museum (Музеј на Народно Ослободителната Војна/Muzej na Narodno Osloboditelnata Vojna) is dedicated to the region during the Second World War. Here you'll find weapons used by the partisans, as well as period documents. But the main attraction is the superb fresco by Prilep-born artist Borko Lazeski (1917-1993). His local work includes the stained glass windows of the Makedonium and a vast mural in Prilep.