With Kosovo, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania as its neighbors, North Macedonia is a small landlocked country in the Balkans - smaller than the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where I live in Germany, and barely larger than New Jersey or Wales, if that is more helpful to you. North Macedonia is also young country, only in existence after it declared independence in 1991, following the breakup of Yugoslavia. As with Kazakhstan, which declared independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union around the same time, you can tell it's a nation trying to find its own identity - or rather, construct it, as evident in its capital Skopje.
As part of the project "Skopje 2014" numerous neo-classical buildings were built and countless statues set up all over the city. On the Bridge of Civilizations and Bridge of Art alone, there are 28 and 35 statues respectively. The bridges are also (over)loaded with a frankly ludicrous number of street lights, and the Bridge of Art even has a fountain in the middle of it - it's all a bit over the top. More interesting from a historical point of view is the Stone Bridge, Kamen Most, next to it. Built on Roman foundations, the current bridge was constructed in the middle of the 15th century and leads to the big city square. There you can find a big statue officially named "The Great Warrior" to avoid the name "Alexander the Great", whose heritage is one of many issues in the ongoing dispute between Greece and North Macedonia. Even the nation's name was changed from "Macedonia" to "North Macedonia" in the the Prespa agreement in 2018, and the country picked a new national flag. All this led to a vary vague idea of what this nation is all about when it comes to its identity. So like with the not-Alexander-but-clearly-Alexander statue, all the buildings and sculptures erected for hundreds of millions of Euros, "Skopje 2014" is an attempt to instill pride and a sense of national identity in the country's population.
Did it work?
Not really.
Most see it as a big waste of money - money which North Macedonia doesn't exactly have in abundance. Due to corruption and mismanagement, many of the facades are already slowly falling apart, and even the finished ones look as much like historical buildings as Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas does. In some ways, though, the project has also put Skopje on the radar of the outside world. The sheer scale of the silliness and constructions like the now abandoned pirate ship restaurants/hotels (which are even more absurd when one considers Skopje is the capital of a landlocked country) have brought in some visitors, but the long-term prospects of the project don't appear to look great.
As is often the case, one has to differentiate between the people and the government under which they have to live - a government which focuses its energy and capital on vanity and where a lot of money vanishes in channels of corruption, also has to live with the consequences: about 85% of young people in North Macedonia (between the ages of 20-35 in this survey done by the NGO InfoCentre) want to leave the country. In North Macedonia even the starting salaries of university professors can be as low as 450 euros ($490) per month. Any country offering that kind of range to its well educated youth will suffer from brain drain sooner or later.
But following this somewhat bleak picture, some brighter things to throw in: go visit the Old Bazaar and get lost in its maze of alleyways with shops and restaurants. One feels transported back in time and gets an idea of the multicultural history of the region looking at the buildings and the goods on display . As always, the walking tours with local guides give a nice overview in 2-3 hours.
The food is quite tasty all in all, even though I can imagine it to become a bit repetitive if you stay longer than a week - and I would imagine even more so for vegetarians or vegans. One dish to definitely try is Tavche Gravche - a rich, comforting bean stew. And if you like grilled meat, your nose will guide you to one of the many, many places serving just that pretty much wherever you are. Special shout out also goes to the really refreshing salads with cucumber, tomatoes, onion and feta cheese.
As everywhere in the Balkans, kebapi/cevapi are always a safe choice, as is the local beer Skopsko, and the typical strong coffee - all at very affordable prices. Rakija, a spirit that can be distilled from a variety of fruits, is also on offer in many locations, and the variations we tried in the evenings were not bad at all.
For the best view over the city, walk up to Skopje Fortress (entrance is free of charge), which offers a nice panoramic view over the rooftops of the city during sunset.
A mention also needs to go to the examples of brutalist architecture. Following the massive earthquake of 1963, which destroyed the majority of the old buildings in the city , a phase of rebuilding took place. Due to the popularity of brutalism at the time, Skopje now sports various unique buildings in that style.
The Telecommunication office building (20, Orce Nikolov) and the Central Post Office (Boulevard VMRO) are just two striking examples of this, but you'll find them scattered all over the city. Here is a more comprehensive map collected by Kamishka.
A few other suggestions:
Go for a day trip to Pristina and/or Prizren. Kosovo can easily be reached by car or bus, and it's worth to dive into this part of the Balkans, too
Spend a day going to Matka Canyon - it can easily reached by local buses, and the rich nature there is quite the contrast to Skopje
Go up to the Millennial Cross near the city on the top of Vodno Mountain. The 66m (217 ft) tall construction towers over Skopje at twice the height of Christ the Redeemer
Visit a local football match. A bit random, but we had good fun groundhopping there while we were showered from all sides by the sunflower seeds everybody keeps chewing during the game.
North Macedonia is a bit under the radar compared to other Balkan countries, but for its sheer uniqueness, Skopje is worth visiting, and has interesting sides to offer beyond the Disneyland kitsch of its downtown facades.
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