In this blogpost I will tell you something more about the places we visited in Macedonia.

Skopje

Skopje is the capital city op the Republic of Macedonia. I actually was very curious about this city, I really wanted to see it. But it was kind of disappointing. Not that you shouldn’t visit the capital. I think you should always visit the capital of the country you’re in :-).
But all the history in the town was gone. It was a new built city – or at least they were busy building it up. It’s located on the upper course of the Vardar River.
In 1963 there was an earthquake, one of the buildings, the old railway station never was rebuild. It’s now a museum, the City Museum. The clock on the station is still set on the time of the earthquake (5h17 AM).

  • The Stone bridge, across the Vardar: The bridge was built in de 15e century. It’s connects the old citypart with the new;
  • The square: This suqare really makes you think of communism. It has some large fountains of Alexander the Great, his mother and Father. On the square you can also find some statues of Alexander the Great and some other important people, like Dame Gruev and Justinion I, an emperor of the Byzantian Empire.
  • The Sveti Spas church: This church was built in de 17th century. While they were building the church, it wasn’t allowed to build churches higher than mosques. That’s one of the reasons that the major part of the church is built under the ground.
  • The Memorial House of Mother Theresa: Mother Theresa was born in Macedonia and is one of the most famous Macedonian. She lived 18 years in Skopje. The House is a modern version of her birth house.
  • The Oriental Bazar: The old bazar, close to the Stone Bridge, used to be the economic center of the city. It also became one of the biggest and most important bazars of the Balkan.
  • Fort Kale: The fort lies on the highest point of the oldest part of Skopje. It gives you a great view on the Vardar and the modern city part.
Fountain of the little Alexander the Great and his mother and father
The old railway station with the clock, now the City Museum
Statue of Alexander the Great
Memorial House of Mother Theresa

Bitola

Another excursion we did, was going to Bitola, the former capital of Macedonia. It’s the biggest city, after Skopje. The city is the economic, cultural, industrial, commercial and educational center.

  • Magnolia Square: with fountain and monument for Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great
  • Sveti Dimitrija Church: Build in 1830. It’s one of the biggest churches in the Balkan and worth visiting because of its interior.
  • Sirok Sokak: a promenade in the center of the city, where you can pass by some neoclassic buildings
  • Museum of Bitola: Here you can learn more about Atatürk as well.
  • The clocktower. Nobody knows exactly when it was build, some say it was in 1830, some claim it was already built in the 16th
  • The ruins of Heraclea Lyncestis: You can find them a bit outside the city. Heraclea Lycestis was built in the 4the century BC by the father of Alexander the Great, Philippus II of Macedonia. Most of the remains are from the Roman Empire. You can find some mosaics, an amphitheater, …
On top of the amphitheater
Mosaic in Heraclea
Heraclea
Streetview…
Sveti Dimitrija
Mosque

Galichica National Park

The National Park borders to Ohrid, the Lake of Ohrid and the Lake of Prespa. At a certain point in the park you can see Greece and Albania from where you stand. The national park protects the unic mountain area between the two lakes, the island Golem Grad and the sources of St. Naum. You can find some caves in the national park – which we didn’t visit.
We stopped near Kurbinovo to picknick after visiting a church, you could find there. We also passed by Brajchino [brightyouknow], returning back to our hotel.

Lake Prespa
Galichca National Park
Galichca National Park
Galichca National Park

Ohrid

We really liked Ohrid. We got lost to, walking around the city. We wanted to go to Fort Samuel, but ended up at the St. Clement Monastery… Beautiful too though :-). We walked through the old streets of Ohrid, passed but the Sveti Sofia, the city center, … Near the lake it’s the most touristic as can be, with little captains walking around asking you again and again if you please would come with them on a boat tour… Next to churches, forts and monasteries, you can also find an ancient theatre in Ohrid. Surrounded by advertisements of porsches and so on. Really. Nice.

St. Clement Monastery
Sveti Sofia