Archaeological sites Northern Macedonia

This site (Археолошки Локалитет Хераклеа Линкестис/Arheološki Lokalitet Heraklea Linkestis) houses some of the remains of the city of Iraklia Lykistis ("Lynx Heraclea" in Greek), founded by Philip II of Macedonia in the ^mid-4th century BC. Most of the visible features date from the late Roman era, including a theater and a large early Christian basilica. Unfortunately, the site is poorly promoted (no explanatory panels) and its most beautiful mosaic was damaged in 2022.

This rocky promontory, which rises more than 1,000 m above sea level, is presented as the "Kokino Megalithic Observatory" (Кокино Мегалитска Обсерваторија): according to the local official version, it would have been used for astronomical observations during prehistoric times. As such, it has been included in the Unesco World Heritage Tentative ("secondary") list since 2009. Excavations conducted from 2001 have brought to light a hundred objects left by man between the ^nineteenth and ^seventh century BC and presented in the museum of Kumanovo. However, no serious study came to support the theory of "the observatory". If Nasa supported this thesis for a time, the American space agency retracted in 2015, describing the site of Kokino as "a particularly problematic case". This one owes its name to its reddish-hued rocks: in Greek, κόκκκινο/kokkino means "red". Placed at the top of the hill of Tatićev Kamen, between 1,010 and 1,030 m above sea level, it extends about 90 m in length and 50 m in width. The complex dominates the hamlet of Kokino, to the southwest, across the road. In addition to the remains of an enclosing wall to the north of the promontory, the "observatory" would be made up of four platforms spreading out towards the west and of stones presented as strategically placed to follow the movements of the sun and the moon. But the visit proves to be disappointing, because the place - as beautiful as it is - does not shelter very "telling" vestiges.

Overlooking the old city to the west, this hill (Плаошник) is home to excavation sites and much maligned recent construction. The place is worth a visit for the mosaics of its early Christian basilica and for the plunging views over the lake. The hill has been inhabited since the Iron Age. At the beginning of our era, it was romanized: it was a residential area with houses, baths and temples. From the^5th century onwards, the place became a religious site with two basilicas and the seat of the first bishops of Lychnidos. In the ^9th century, St. Clement of Ohrid made Plaošnik the main center of Slavic evangelization with the construction of the prestigious Ohrid Literary School, a monastery and the church of St. Panteleimon. In the ^15th century, the latter was transformed into a mosque and provided with an imaret (hospice). A Muslim neighborhood was born, taking the name of Imaret. But since 2000, a vast real estate project tinged with nationalism has been launched: almost all traces of Islamic presence has been erased (only an Ottoman mausoleum remains). In its place were erected the modern buildings of the University of the Apostle Paul and the new church of Saints Clement and Panteleimon. These constructions have distorted the hill. They have earned Ohrid strong criticism from UNESCO, which is threatening to remove the city from the World Heritage List. In the western part, behind the bar of buildings of the university, a way passes in the forest to join the church Saint-Jean of Kaneo.

Discovered in 1919, this site (Археолошкиот Локалитет Големо Градиште/Arheološkiot Lokalitet Golemo Gradište) contains the remains of a Byzantine city founded in the^fifth century on a promontory in the Kriva Valley. The foundations of several buildings are visible: two basilicas, two villas, streets and a cistern around what must have been the central square. In the distance, there are also hermit cells. In summer, local and American archaeologists can be seen working there.

This thermal area (Бања Банско/Banja Bansko) is formed around five hot springs, one of which comes out at 72 °C. They flow into the Salandza basin, where the water still reaches 56 °C. The place houses the remains of Roman baths of the ^third century with ten rooms and portions of walls from 2 to 6.70 m high. These were rediscovered in 1972. There are now two hotels and health centers where rheumatism is treated. The neighboring village of Bansko has about 2,400 inhabitants, 47% of whom are Turks and 32% Macedonians.

This small site (Археолошки Локалите Градилиште Бразда/Arheološki Lokalitet Gradište Brazda) contains a monumental tomb from the^5th or ^4th century BC discovered in 1986. It is a burial chamber, known as "royal", made of cut stone buried in the ground and with a dromos (corridor). The region was then occupied by the Peonian tribe of Agrianes. The tomb evokes those of Greek Macedonia. But its particular structure suggests that it could be Athenian.

This site (Археолошки Локалитет Скупи/Arheološki Lokalitet Skupi) contains the remains of the Roman city of Colonia Flavia Scupinorum, founded in the ^1st century AD, and better known as Scupi. Destroyed in 518 by an earthquake, it was rediscovered in 1926 by the Serbian archaeologist Radoslav Grujić (1878-1955) and is still being excavated jointly by Italian and Macedonian archaeologists. The visit is a bit disappointing. Already, apart from a large theater, the ruins are not very "talking". Moreover, there are no precise schedules (it is even sometimes closed without reason several days in a row) and the rare explanatory panels are frequently vandalized. Nevertheless, it is an important place. For Scupi was the only city in the territory of present-day North Macedonia to benefit from the title of "colony": the equivalent of a "Rome in miniature" with (free) inhabitants having Roman citizenship and institutions comparable to those of the capital. The site itself was continuously occupied from the ^12th century B.C.

Hill of the Rabbit and Pudic Venus. Scupi is located very close to the confluence of the Vardar and the Lepenec River (800 m to the southwest), under the hill of Zajčev, which rises to 300 m above sea level. It was on this "rabbit hill" (Zajčev Rid) that Roman soldiers established in the ^2nd century BC a castrum, a fortified camp that then dominated a city belonging to the Dardanians, allies of Rome in the conquest of the region. During the reign of Emperor Domitian (81-96), Scupi was given the title of colony. Veterans of various legions came to settle there and a typical Roman city plan was adopted. On the way to the theater on the hill, we pass along the remains of a small residential complex, a building with an arch, a horreum (warehouse) and a public bath. It is in these baths that a superb marble statue of Venus "modest" of the ^2nd century was unearthed in 2008, today exposed in the museum of the City of Skopje. The path continues along a section of street, an early Christian basilica of the ^4th century and a villa, before leading to the impressive ^2nd century theater. This one could accommodate up to 9,000 spectators. But unlike the one in Stobi, in Povardaria, there is no indication that it was used for gladiatorial combat.

This site (Археолошки Локалитет Баргала) contains the remains of the Roman and Byzantine city of Bargala, founded in the late ^4th century and abandoned during the ^7th century invasions. The bases of an enclosure wall, baths, stores and workshops are visible, as well as those of a triple-naved basilica, four columns of which have been raised. To the south-east of the site, the two domes of the beautiful church of Saint George, built during the Bulgarian Empire in the ^9th or ^10th century, are also visible.

This site (Виничко Кале) houses the ruins of an important Byzantine fortress of the ^5th-7th centuries. It is located on a hill, 450 m above sea level, and overlooks the town of Vinica from 70 m high. We can see the bases of 3 m thick walls, numerous buildings and a Christian basilica. The place was occupied before the Byzantines and again after them. But it is the Byzantines who left the most significant traces here, in particular the famous "Vinica icons" in terracotta, discovered in the necropolis of the fortress in 1978.

This archaeological site contains the remains of an early Christian basilica of the ^4th or^5th century (Ранохристијанска Базилика Манчевци/Ranohristijanska Bazilika Mančevci). Discovered in 2007, it preserves the layout of two naves, a large mosaic on the floor and fragments of other mosaics bearing the names of the donors (John and Thomas), a portion of brick wall, three upright columns supporting two reconstructed vaults, as well as various decorative elements in marble.

Since 2008, this site (Археолошки Локалитет Тумба Маџари/Arheološki Lokalitet Tumba Madžari) has housed the reconstruction of a 1,400^m2 Neolithic village discovered 200 m away in 1971. Six houses and a small "temple", all built of wood, branches and adobe, feature mannequins and copies of objects from the people who lived here between 5800 and 5300 BC. The site was successively occupied by sedentary tribes from the two major Neolithic societies in the territory of North Macedonia: the Anzabegovo-Vršnik culture from the Vardar valley, and the Veluša-Porodin culture from Pelagonia. It included an important place of worship. Several terracotta statuettes of a deity known as Magna Mater ("great mother goddess") were unearthed for the first time. The goddess is depicted in the form of a female bust standing on the roof of a "house". Some of these statuettes, found only in North Macedonia, are on display at the National Archaeological Museum. Less impressive than the reconstruction of the Neolithic lakeside village of the "Bay of Bones" on Lake Ohrid, the Tumba Madžari site is more serious in scientific terms. On-site tours are led by volunteers, students or archaeologists (donations welcome). The site can be reached by bus 23 from the "Place de Macédoine" stop in central Skopje (get off at the "Madžari Khanibal" stop).

This early Christian basilica (Ранохристијанска Базилика Плаошник/Ranohristijanska Bazilika Plaošnik) is home to superb mosaics. It is the most important remnant of late antiquity unearthed on the hill of Plaošnik. The discovery was made as part of the large real estate project launched here in 2000. A large tubular structure houses the foundations of what was the seat of the bishopric of Lychnidos, probably founded in the^fifth century. The modern roofing is supposed to reproduce what the elaborate roof of this basilica with its tetraconical (four-leaf) plan looked like. Thanks to an elevated walkway that goes around the foundations, one can admire the mosaics on the floor with floral, animal, human and geometric motifs, including many "swastikas": swastikas were very common decorative elements in Greek, Roman and Byzantine decorations. The most remarkable piece is the baptistery decorated with a mosaic of peacocks drinking water from a sacred inexhaustible source. It is an illustration of the theme of baptism that purifies and nourishes the Christian throughout his life. The commissioners of all these works remain as anonymous as the artists who executed them. Only an inscription in Greek on the north side of the church evokes their memory: "This was done by those whose names are known to God Nearby are the ruins of a "pagan" temple and various buildings from the Roman and Byzantine periods.

This ancient site (Археолошки Локалитет Стоби/Arheološki Lokalitet Stobi) is the most important in Northern Macedonia. Among other things, it houses a theater with 7,000 seats, beautiful mosaics and several early Christian basilicas. It is about the vestiges of the ancient city of Stobi. Founded by the Peonians around the ^sixth century BC, it was then occupied by the Macedonians, Romans and Byzantines. The city benefited from a strategic position, at the crossroads of several land routes and at the confluence of the Axios (Vardar) and Erigon (Crna Reka) rivers. Covering an area of 24 ha, the site extends over 700 m in length and 350 m in width. Nowadays, Stobi is located between the R 1102 and the E-75 freeway and had an important influence. In the ^3rd century BC, it was the capital of the Peonians. This people occupied the territory of North Macedonia as well as the south of Bulgaria and Albania. But it is especially during the Roman and Byzantine period that the city knew a real rise, becoming a hearth of Christianity and even, in the^5th century, the seat of the province of Macedonia Salutaris which covered the north of Greece. The decline was then rapid: Stobi was plundered by the Ostrogoths, devastated by an earthquake in 518, before being abandoned a few decades later.

Gladiators in 3D. Among the remains, we note in particular the emblematic mosaic of the peacock, in the episcopal basilica of the ^fourth century. For Christians, this bird symbolized the resurrection. On the panels - quite succinct in explanations - we discover with astonishment a "synagogue basilica" and a "casino". In the first case, it is a former Jewish place of worship transformed into a church: the first Christians were often from Jewish communities. As for the "casino", it is in fact an episcopal residence (with beautiful mosaics) in which were discovered a bronze table with small dice. As for the great theater, it is possible to visit it with an augmented reality helmet. We find ourselves immersed in the monument as it was in the ^second century, when it was used for gladiatorial combat. In the middle of 700 virtual spectators, we follow the fighters during their preparation and during a ceremony, before seeing them fight. This visit is organized every half hour from 10am and requires registration online and then by phone.