The best general museums Skopje

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.

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).

Located just south of Macedonia Street, this museum (Музеј на Град Скопје/Muzej na Grad Skopje) is moving: since 1970, it has been housed in the former railway station dating from 1940 and heavily damaged by the earthquake of July 26, 1963. On the façade, the hands of the large clock remained frozen at 5:17 a.m., the hour when the main tremor (6.1 on the Richter scale) destroyed a large part of the city, killing 1,070 people. Alas, this museum, founded in 1949, suffers from funding problems. Works and objects are poorly presented, and the museum is sometimes closed without notice. It does, however, house an important collection of works on the history of the conurbation: archaeology, history, art history, ethnography, architecture and design. The archaeology department is particularly rich. One of its highlights is the astonishing fragment of a Neolithic statuette of the "Adam of Govrlevo" in a seated position, with his phallus still erect after 7,000 years. The permanent exhibition on town planning features the major project to rebuild the city after the 1963 earthquake. The rooms devoted to ethnology showcase the country's minorities, with beautiful Albanian, Roma, Aromanian, Serbian and Jewish costumes. In addition, the museum has several branches on the eastern bank, including the Partisan Underground Workshop Museum and the Stara Čaršija exhibition at the Suli Caravanserai.