Monuments to visit Skopje

This mosque (Султан-Муратова Џамија/Sultan-Muratova Džamija, Xhamia e Sulltan Muratit) is the oldest in Skopje. It was erected in 1436 on the site of an Orthodox monastery dedicated to St. George thanks to a donation from Ottoman Sultan Murat II (1421-1451). However, not much remains of the original building as many changes were made, including the restoration completed in 2020. The rectangular building (34.60 x 27.60 m) is preceded by a porch with five arches. The large, classical, tiled roof conceals a decorated dome. The interior space is divided into three naves delimited by two supporting walls and three rows of columns. Dominated by a minaret of 35 m high, the mosque is part of a complex of which two mausoleums and the old buildings of a former medersa (Koranic school) and an imaret (hospice) remain. Next to the latter, to the north, stands the clock tower (Саат-Кула/Saat-Kula, Kulla e Sahatit) which was used to indicate the (variable) prayer times to all the mosques in the city. With a height of 37 m, it was built between 1566 and 1573. For the lower part, a square defensive tower of the old monastery was used. An octagonal stone section was added, topped by a wooden floor. The latter was rebuilt in brick in 1902. Like the mosque, the tower has undergone a recent restoration funded by Turkey.

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.

Brightly lit at night, this fortress (Скопско Кале/Skopsko Kale, Kalaja e Shkupit) is worth it mostly for the views it offers: it overlooks the Vardar River on the highest point in the city center, 268 meters above sea level. Unfortunately, it is poorly maintained. It is, however, the oldest inhabited site in the city, with discoveries made here dating back to the ^4th millennium BC. The fortifications were created by the Byzantines in the ^6th century from materials of the Roman colony of Scupi, destroyed by an earthquake. But its present structure dates from the Ottomans. There remains a gate and a portion of Byzantine wall to the east and, above all, a 121 m long rampart and restored defensive towers facing the city center. It is possible to walk the walkway during the day. Inside, traces of a Byzantine building, an Ottoman mosque and a medieval Serbian church are visible. It was in the latter that the Serbian king Dušan was crowned emperor "of the Serbs and Greeks" on April 16, 1346, briefly becoming the most powerful ruler in Europe. The fortress also has a museum installed under a glass structure. But it has been closed for several years. Finally, along the southern rampart stands the monument Strength, Glory and Victory created in 1953 by the sculptor Jordan Grabulovski, to whom we owe the Makedonium in Kruševo. It represents a woman holding a laurel wreath at a height of 5 m with a soldier and a small child at her feet.

Located in Stara Čaršija, this caravanserai (Капан Ан/Kapan An, Hani i Kapanit) is Skopje's oldest. Erected around 1460 on the initiative of Ottoman governor Isa-Bey Ishaković, it takes its name from the large scales (kapan) that were used to weigh and tax goods transiting through here. Surrounding a square courtyard, the first floor was used for livestock and merchandise, while the upper floor housed 44 rooms for merchants passing through the city. Today, there are several restaurants and cafés, including the Pivnica An.

Located in Stara Čaršija, opposite the Čifte hammam, this white-walled building (Безистен/Bezisten, Bezisten) was used to store merchants' most valuable goods for the night: silks, gold, jewelry, etc. It was built in 1900 on the site of an earlier ^15th-century bezistan destroyed in the great Skopje fire of 1689. With its four entrances, the current complex takes the form of open-air cobbled lanes running around two former warehouses. This rather charming complex now houses a number of stores.

This triumphal arch (Порта Македонија/Porta Macedonija) was built for the twentieth anniversary of independence (1991) and completed in 2012. In a dubious neoclassical style and 21 m high, it is decorated with 32 bas-reliefs representing so-called "national" heroes: Alexander the Great, the Byzantine emperor Justinian, Samuel ^I of Bulgaria, the Serbian king Marko Mrnjavčevic... It is one of the most expensive achievements of the project "Skopje 2014" (6.3 million euros). The panoramic terrace was no longer accessible during our last visit.

Located in Stara Čaršija, near the Museum of North Macedonia, this caravanserai (Куршумли Ан/Kuršumli An, Hani i Kurshumlisë) is the city's largest. Built in the early ^16th century, it had 60 rooms for merchants, including 32 upstairs all with fireplaces. Its name comes from the lead(kurşumlu in Turkish) that covers its domes. Transformed into a prison in the ^18th century, then into a museum in the 1920s, it now houses the lapidarium of the Museum of Northern Macedonia (Roman steles and statues). Concerts, exhibitions and theater in summer.

Surrounded by stores, this caravanserai in Stara Čaršija (Сули Ан/Suli An, Hani i Sulit) is hardly visible from the outside. Located just north of the hammam Čifte (another entrance to the east via Bitpazarska Street), it was established around 1460 by Governor Isa-Bey Ishaković. Its name comes from the Turkish word sulu, meaning a damp place. The building stands above the Serava River, which was covered over during the Ottoman period. Restored after the 1963 earthquake, it looks like a classic caravanserai: a courtyard used to store goods and 57 rooms for merchants on two levels. Since 1982, the first floor has housed part of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Saints Cyril and Methodius University, with an exhibition. The first floor is occupied by the Stara Čaršija Museum (Музеј на Старата Скопска Чаршија/Muzej na Starata Skopska Čaršija, Muzeu i Çarshisë së Vjetër të Shkupit). Established in 1983, it is part of the Skopje City Museum. Covering 350^m2, it includes an archaeology section displaying objects dating from the ^10th to the ^20th century, found in the charchia and the fortress. The ethnology section focuses on the ancient crafts of the charchia: goldsmiths, tinsmiths, coppersmiths and leatherworkers. An opportunity to discover old tools and beautiful pieces of hammered copper. The museum also includes a history section (plans and documents) and an art gallery (paintings by ^20th-century local artists).

This public university (Универзитет Свети Кирил и Методиј/Univerzitet Sveti Kiril i Metodij, Universiteti Shën Kirili dhe Metodi) is the largest in the country with about 25,000 students. Founded in 1949, it is named after the two saints who evangelized the Slavs in the ^9th century. The visit is interesting for the brutalist architecture of the three main buildings (faculties of law, philosophy and economics) completed in 1978 and designed by the Slovenian Marko Mušič (born in 1941).

This concert hall, inaugurated in 2017 (Филхармонија на Република Северна Македонија/Filharmonija na Republika Severna Makedonija, Filarmonia e Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the only high-quality achievement of the "Skopje 2014" project. Its structure of giant black vaults echoes the beautiful design of the Cathedral of St. Clement in Ohrid. It stands on the site of the Ibni Pajko mosque, destroyed in 1947. See also "Going out" in Skopje.

Today rivaled by more modern shopping centers, the GTC or "city mall" (Градски Трговски Центар - ГТЦ) remains an emblematic Skopje building with stores, cafés, restaurants, cinema, rooftop terrace and more. Opened in 1973, it was designed by Živko Popovski (1934-2007) on the site of Mother Teresa's birthplace, destroyed in the 1963 earthquake. At the western entrance, a monument bears a quotation from the Catholic saint: "The world is not hungry for bread, but for love." See also "Treat yourself".

This impressive railway and bus station (Железничка Станица/Železnička Stanica) is the centerpiece of the reconstruction plan that followed the 1963 earthquake. Completed in 1981 and designed in a Brutalist style by the chief architect, the Japanese Kenzo Tange (1913-2005), it is set on a 1,400 m-long, 10.5 m-high bridge with ten railroad tracks. This symbol of Skopje's renaissance required 11,000 t of iron - more than the Eiffel Tower - and 70,000^m3 of concrete. See also "Getting around".

With its large spider-shaped hall, the Central Post Office (Главната Пошта/Glavna Pošta) is one of Skopje's iconic brutalist buildings. It is the work of the painter and architect Janko Konstantinov (1926-2010). Originally from Bitola, he worked in Northern Europe alongside Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, then in the United States, before participating in the reconstruction of Skopje after the earthquake of 1963. Completed in 1982, the hall houses brightly colored realistic paintings by Borko Lazeski (1917-1993). The back of the building is also remarkable.

This building evoking a white bird (Национална Опера и Балет/Nacionalna Opera i Balet, Opera dhe Baleti Nacional) has almost disappeared amidst the ugly constructions of the "Skopje 2014" project. Yet it was one of the most spectacular achievements of the reconstruction plan that followed the 1963 earthquake. Inaugurated in 1979, it was designed by the Slovenian collective Biro 71, largely influenced by Finnish organic architecture. The interior, with its complex geometric forms, is even more impressive. See also "Going out".