Things to see and do Gevgelija

This former Ottoman hammam (Гевгелиски Aмам) dates from the ^17th century. Since its renovation in 2018, it has housed an art gallery of the Gevgelija Museum where temporary exhibitions, classical music concerts and various events are held. Featuring an openwork main dome and three domes, the building is modest in size. It was originally used only for women and was transformed into a municipal public bath in the ^19th century, before being abandoned in the following century. It is the only monument from the Ottoman period preserved in Gevgelija.

Left abandoned since independence, this monument (Цветот на Cлободата/Cvetot na Slobodata) nevertheless pays tribute to the fighters of Slavic Macedonia through the centuries. With a height of 12 m, only the metal frame remains today. Erected in 1969 near the archaeological site of Vardarski Rid, this modernist metal structure was moved here, at the top of the hill of Mrzenski (145 m of altitude), in 2005. In the shape of a stylized flower, it is the work of Jordan Grabuloski, who is also responsible for the superb Makedonium in Kruševo.

A national institution founded in 1992, this museum (Национална Установа-Музеј Гевгелија/Nacionalna Ustanova-Muzej Gevgelija) is housed in the former Vladov konak, a mansion built in 1906. The main hall houses about 350 objects from the Vardarski Rid site, especially those from the period of the Macedonian kingdom (^4th-1st century BC): a 61 cm statue of Aphrodite, coins minted under various Macedonian kings (including Alexander III, known as "the Great"), jewelry, luxury ceramics, red clay figurines, including the seated one depicting the Phrygian goddess Cybele, etc. We go back in time with the previous occupants of the same site: beautiful bronze objects left by the Peonians (^7th-6th century B.C.) and superb ceramic jugs from the tomb of a Bronze Age child (^13th-12th century B.C.). The rest of the archaeological collection consists of finds from other sites in the region, especially the Isar site near the village of Marvinci/Марвинци, 19 km north of Gevgelija (GPS: 41.283333, 22.498056). This site that can be visited freely had a strong development with the Greco-Roman city of Idomene. There is also a beautiful set of bronze bracelets and pendants (700-650 BC) from the site of Milci, near the border post. Finally, the museum houses small collections of ethnology, art and history as well as a store selling reproductions of the most beautiful archaeological objects exhibited here.

The site of the "Vardar Hill" (Вардарски Рид) was occupied from the ^13th century BC. The main remains visible today are those of Gortynia, a Hellenic colony of the Kingdom of Macedonia inhabited between the ^4th and ^1st centuries BC: stoa (gallery of artisans and traders), agora (market), warehouses and workshops of the acropolis, "house of the tax collector".In the summer months, the inhabitants of Gevgelija come to picnic and climb the observation tower.