After leaving London we flew through Frankfurt to Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. We stayed in a hotel just off the pedestrian street that led to Macedonia Square. In the center of the square was a heroic sculpture of "Warrior on Horse", clearly intended to represent their home-town-boy Alexander the Great. I'm curious if it was named otherwise as part of the country name compromise with Greece.
Ponderous columnar support for Warrior on a Horse.
The area around the square was rebuilt in 2010 after the countries independence. What immediately struck us was how ponderous the architecture was coming from a culture that was part of Pan Helles, or Classical Greece. Admittedly, there have been more recent influences.
Constitutional Court
It bore no resemblance to the elegance of the Parthenon in Athens, the temple of Apollo in Delphi, or the Valley of the Temples in the former Greek colonies in Sicily. Gone were entisis (curving of columns to appear straight), golden section proportions, or the warping of the platform to appear flat.
Parthenon on the Acropolis
Parthenon design incorporating curves for optical illusion to straighten
Instead, buildings and monuments were overly heroic emphasizing scale over elegance. I assume this was the legacy Stalinist Architecture/Socialist Classicism style from years under communist rule. Leaving the square we crossed the Old Stone Bridge, which was built half a millennium before, whose graceful arches across the Vardar river are in contrast to the buildings surrounding it. On the other side of the bridge is the Old Center, the historic muslim district.
Stone Bridge crossing Vardar river and the State Archives building of the Republic of Macedonia
Heroic statue of Philip II of Macedonia in Old Center
Around the base are statues of his wife, mother of Alexander, nurturing her child.
Souk section of Old Center
Gold jewlery shops are very common in Middle Eastern and Sub-continent
Muslim and Hindu cultures as display of status and holding wealth
While Macedonia is predominantly Christian, there is a significant Muslim population. Common in most Balkan countries is the intermingling of religions; sometime peacefully, other times not, sometimes interspersed, other times concentrated in ghettos.
Islamic Hamam (bath house) being restored
Around the corner an Orthodox Church
Nearby, honoring the birthplace of Mother Teresa, a Catholic
A rainy afternoon was spent in their Macedonia cultural museum curated to show their development into an independent nation.
Dual image of map of modern day Macedonia with reflection of founding members
After a couple days in the capital we headed south on the main highway along their western border with Albania. Our route took us over the spine of the Dinaric Alps (encountered in Albania) to Lake Orhid, straddling the boarder with Greece. Although only late September, we caught the tail end of a snowstorm that toppled trees and created hazardous driving.
Road crews were soon out clearing trees from highways.
Ancient Greek Theater in Ohrid, still used for its original purpose.
Fortunately, the next day dawned clear and warm. Around the corner from our Air BnB was the orthodox church St Sophia from the 11th century, and built on the foundation of a cathedral from the sixth century. The name is common for churches in this region. Sophia means "wisdom", thus Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Holy Wisdom), and is the root of words like philo-sophy (love of wisdom), or sophistry (clever or cunning - in use of a fallacious argument.)
Promenade along Lake Ohrid
Ohrid's own interpretation of Ottoman architecture with many windows and oriel windows.
Church of St John of Patmos, built in fourteenth century on Lake Ohrid.
Before the Ottoman conquest
Samuel's Fortress built by Tsar Samuel, during the First Bulgarian Empire
Before the Ottoman conquest.
Main street in town during end of season festival and concert.
After a couple days in Ohrid we took a day trip to nearby historic sight of Heracles (named for Hercules, son of Zeus and a mortal) and college town of Bitola.
Greek ruins and mosaic floors of Heracles, founded by Philip II, on the vital link Via Egnacia
Lively restaurant street in Bitola
It was a holiday and all the restaurants were packed with tourists and students.
But outside the commercial street, things were economically depressed.
Leaving Ohrid and heading back to Skopje on our anti-clockwise drive around the country we stopped at their most famous winery, Tikves, since 1885. Here we sampled several distinct red wines from grapes common in the Mediterranean stoney clay soils, but not familiar beyond. Vranac and Plavac Mali grapes, both singly and in blends, were very good. The Vranac wine is noted for its deep red and high tannins, and the Plavac is often blended to soften those tannins.
Very modern, and recently upgraded, Tikvas winery.
Back in Skopje, we decided to visit the small country of Kosovo on our last day. Landlocked and sandwiched between Macedonia, Albania and Serbia, this extremely mountainous country (over 80%) is still claimed by Serbia. With only a day we drove an hour and a half to the second most populous city Prizen, population less than 150,000. Rainy and with only four hours to explore, we stayed in the historic center of town and had lunch.
Driving through the rain and mountains to Prizen
Centuries old bridge over the river Lumbardhi (Albanian) or Bistrica (Serbian) river, meaning "Clear Water"
Kosovo is 90% Muslim, unlike Serbia, Albania, and Macedonia
Back in Skopje the night before leaving at the distinctly ugly Marriot Casino and Hotel on the Square
Next Post: The Balkans, Part Six - Bulgaria and Northern Greece
