North Macedonia, my newest European discovery!
Skopje Fortress from the Old Bazaar
I had an opportunity to visit North Macedonia and spent a short time in Skopje. I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect and didn't do that much research beforehand. That meant that I enjoyed discovering something new and I ended up really liking the city, the city centre in recent years had a lot of work done to make the area more visually appealing. There are some historic sections to the city, the main one being the Old Bazaar. The Bazaar dates back to the 12th century and it reached its peak period under the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th century. It was twice damaged by earthquakes in 1555 and more recently in 1963.
The Old Bazaar is on the north side of the Vardar River, easy enough to find, cross the Stone Bridge and keep walking straight ahead.
Daut Pasha Hamam
Crossing the Stone Bridge and walking into the Old Bazaar, the first building I saw was this old Turkish bathhouse. It's now an art gallery and houses exhibitions of Macedonian modern art, it also holds concerts.
Daut Pasha Hamam, looking back to the mountain with the Millennium Cross and the statue of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great's father. The two large domes covered the changing rooms of the bathhouse and the smaller domes covered individual bathing rooms, this bathhouse was built in the 15th century.
The restaurant Destan in the Old Bazaar. (Macedonia uses the Cyrillic alphabet) Had dinner there and so can attest to the authentic Macedonian food on offer, kebabs or as I know them cvapchichi, tried a Macedonian dish called Ajvar which I loved.
A street in the bazaar, before visiting I had the image of crowded narrow streets with sellers yelling at you. Much to my delight it was nothing like that, the area is quite roomy, no-one yelling at you, which made it a pleasant area to stroll around in and meant that I could calmly look and decide what I wanted to buy. I'm not good in crowded markets, I tend to have a flight or flee response to what others consider 'atmosphere'! Had only planned on a short stay at the bazaar and then regretted that I didn't have enough time!
Citfe Hamam, in Turkish the name means 'double bath', this bathhouse had two separate areas for men and women, each wing is identical. This bathhouse can be found in the centre of the Old Bazaar, it was built in the 15th century and was used until 1915. It had been damaged in the 1963 earthquake and then repaired and houses the Museum of Contemporary Art. I went inside this gallery and was fascinated by the building, the art was interesting as well!
Such an interesting combination of ancient water vessels and modern digital art.
Decorations under the domes.
Kursumli Han, it's the largest of the three remaining caravanserais, it was an inn, the upstairs housed the guests and the downstairs the cattle and horses. It's walled off from the road and you enter through a gate to this courtyard, the complex was built in the 16th century.
Kursumli Han now houses the statue collection of the Museum of Macedonia.
The Old Bazaar has a number of active mosques, (distinguished from those that are just museums).
The Murat Pasha Mosque with a water fountain infront of it to wash before you enter. It looks fairly new but it was built in 1436, I'm assuming it's had restoration work done.
I enjoyed my wandering through the Old Bazaar and hope to return one day to spend longer, I'd like to explore some of the historic buildings and I didn't even manage to get up to the fortress that overlooks the area.
Skopje was a very pleasant surprise, it had the added benefit that it was quite cheap as well. My recommendations to people now are go and visit before the rest of the world discovers it!
I had an opportunity to visit North Macedonia and spent a short time in Skopje. I had no preconceived ideas of what to expect and didn't do that much research beforehand. That meant that I enjoyed discovering something new and I ended up really liking the city, the city centre in recent years had a lot of work done to make the area more visually appealing. There are some historic sections to the city, the main one being the Old Bazaar. The Bazaar dates back to the 12th century and it reached its peak period under the Ottomans in the 16th and 17th century. It was twice damaged by earthquakes in 1555 and more recently in 1963.
The Old Bazaar is on the north side of the Vardar River, easy enough to find, cross the Stone Bridge and keep walking straight ahead.
Crossing the Stone Bridge and walking into the Old Bazaar, the first building I saw was this old Turkish bathhouse. It's now an art gallery and houses exhibitions of Macedonian modern art, it also holds concerts.
Daut Pasha Hamam, looking back to the mountain with the Millennium Cross and the statue of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great's father. The two large domes covered the changing rooms of the bathhouse and the smaller domes covered individual bathing rooms, this bathhouse was built in the 15th century.
A street in the bazaar, before visiting I had the image of crowded narrow streets with sellers yelling at you. Much to my delight it was nothing like that, the area is quite roomy, no-one yelling at you, which made it a pleasant area to stroll around in and meant that I could calmly look and decide what I wanted to buy. I'm not good in crowded markets, I tend to have a flight or flee response to what others consider 'atmosphere'! Had only planned on a short stay at the bazaar and then regretted that I didn't have enough time!
Citfe Hamam, in Turkish the name means 'double bath', this bathhouse had two separate areas for men and women, each wing is identical. This bathhouse can be found in the centre of the Old Bazaar, it was built in the 15th century and was used until 1915. It had been damaged in the 1963 earthquake and then repaired and houses the Museum of Contemporary Art. I went inside this gallery and was fascinated by the building, the art was interesting as well!
Decorations under the domes.
Kursumli Han, it's the largest of the three remaining caravanserais, it was an inn, the upstairs housed the guests and the downstairs the cattle and horses. It's walled off from the road and you enter through a gate to this courtyard, the complex was built in the 16th century.
I enjoyed my wandering through the Old Bazaar and hope to return one day to spend longer, I'd like to explore some of the historic buildings and I didn't even manage to get up to the fortress that overlooks the area.
Skopje was a very pleasant surprise, it had the added benefit that it was quite cheap as well. My recommendations to people now are go and visit before the rest of the world discovers it!
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