Macedonia Square is the main square of Skopje

admin ♦ August 5, 2010 ♦ 1 Comment

Macedonia Square is the main square of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.

It is located in the central part of the city, and it crosses the Vardar River. The Christmas festivals are always held there and it commonly serves as the site of cultural, political and other events. The independence of Macedonia from Yugoslavia was declared here by the country’s first president, Kiro Gligorov. The square is currently under re-development and there are many new buildings around the square being constructed.

In 2007, the Macedonian government announced plans to reconstruct the Army House, the Old Theatre, and Kale Fortress, all symbols of Skopje and Macedonia Square that were severely damaged or destroyed in the 1963 Skopje earthquake.

In December 2008, the Macedonian government started a project of strengthening the national consciousness among Macedonian citizens. A big Macedonian flag was erected on Macedonia Square, near the Stone Bridge, as it was done on 15 other important locations throughout the country.

On 2 May 2010, two five meters tall monuments of Goce Delcev and Dame Gruev were erected near the Stone Bridge.
The Centar Municipality prepares to build a 22 metres high monument of Alexander the Great riding his horse Bucephalus in the center of the square.According to the new mayor of the Centar municipality, Vladimir Todorović, the monument will be in the middle of a circular fountain and there will be soldiers from the Macedonian Phalanx around Alexander. The first construction works are planned to be started in May or June of 2009.The costs for the monument are 4.5 million Euro and it is planned to be finished in the second half of 2011.Also busts and statues of other historical Macedonian figures are planned to be erected around the square.

Also, the reconstruction of a 29 metres high historical orthodox church and of a luxury hotel is foreseen.

Even though most of the interesting sights are on the other side of the Stone Bridge, there are couple of interesting sights around Macedonia Square. The square has changed a lot after the earthquake, most of the neoclasical buildings are gone except for a small section of houses in the center. Some more are on Maksim Gorki street and around (look for the Italian Embassy and the Arabian House Hotel). From the main square when you turn to enter the shopping mall look for a marked place. This is the place where the house of Mother Theresa used to stand. She was born in this house and lived here until she turned 18 when she left first for Ireland and then for India.Error processing request