MACEDONIA
Country Overview:
“A unique city full of history, nice people, and way too many statues”
Though traveling here during the COVID-19 pandemic and having to adhere to lockdown and curfew rules, I had a great time in Skopje. It’s a fun city, there’s a lot to do (including casinos) and everyone was really friendly. The city, thanks to the citywide Skopje 2014 project, is FULL of statues, monuments, and other bigger-than-life “things” honoring famous Macedonians throughout the country’s history. For someone who runs a blog, it was awesome, but many locals I talked to didn’t like it, and others online have described the city as “kitsch”. Say what you want, but I had a great time wandering around the city and taking in the sights.
Old Bazaar
The Old Bazaar is one of the oldest and largest marketplaces in the Balkans and has been Skopje's center for trade and commerce since at least the 12th century.
The Ottoman history of the bazaar is evidenced by roughly thirty mosques, numerous caravanserais and hans, among other buildings and monuments. The bazaar was heavily damaged by the earthquake in 1555, the burning of the city in 1689, the earthquake in 1963, as well as during the First and the Second World Wars and faced various re-buildings following these events.
The Mustafa Pasha Mosque, built in 1492 by Mustafa Pasha on an older Christian site, stands above the Old Bazaar, near Kale Fortress. Considered one of the most elegant Islamic buildings in Macedonia, the complex includes the mosque, the tomb of Mustapha Paşa, the sarcophagus of one of his daughters, a fountain, and remnants of other buildings.