Showing 1-11 of 11 results
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Church of Sveti Spas
Step out and wander around Čaršija's small shops and teahouses, and go north along Samoilova for the magnificent Church of Sveti Spas. The church was built below ground, since during Ottoman times it was illegal for a church to be taller than a mosque. It boasts an iconostasis 10m (33ft) wide and 6m (20ft) high, beautifully carved in the early 19th century.
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Čifte Amam
The Čifte Amam is a beautiful old bathhouse that is now used for temporary exhibitions.
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City Art Gallery
In the Old Town, or Čaršija, the Daud Paša Baths (1466), once the largest Turkish bath in the Balkans, is now the City Art Gallery. The seven rooms housing mainly modern art are lit by the sun coming through the small star-shaped holes in the domed ceiling, and you can't help but imagine how sumptuous it must have been to bathe here in another age.
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City Museum
South of the centre, the only interesting thing about the City Museum is its partly-ruined exterior. The clock is frozen at 5.17 on the morning of the tragic Skopje earthquake of 27 July 1963, which killed 1066 people and almost demolished the city. On the left is Tito's message of support to the shattered citizens. Go around to the back for a strange mix of decaying shops and bars amid abandoned railway carriages and artillery.
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Memorial Room
A 2.5m bronze statue of Mother Teresa stands sentinel at the entrance to a small square, not far from the now-demolished house where she was raised. Her simple Memorial Room is in the base of an 18th-century feudal tower. A superb socialist relief fronts the Army House to the right of the tower.
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Museum of Macedonia
The Museum of Macedonia is a fascinating place to while away a few hours. Reflecting the depth of culture in this ancient land, the earliest exhibits date back 7500 years to the Neolithic period. Keep your eyes open for a phallus-spouted drinking vessel that set the standard for joke shops for millennia.
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National Gallery
Across from Sveti Dimitija is the Daut Pašin Amam (1466), once the largest Turkish bathhouse in the Balkans, and now home to the National Gallery. Housing some excellent modern art and a small collection of icons dating back to the 14th century, the building is lit by star-shaped holes in the brickwork of the beautiful copper-clad domes.
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Sveti Dimitrija
Although dominated by mosques and mainly populated by Albanian Muslims, you'll find the cute 19th-century church of Sveti Dimitrija just over the bridge from Čaršija.
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Sveti Kliment Ohridski
The massive modern church of Sveti Kliment Ohridski does a good impersonation of a mosque, with its large interlocking domes and freestanding bell tower.
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Sveti Pantelejmon Monastery
For a great view of the city, take the 20-minute taxi ride up Mount Vodno to the Sveti Pantelejmon monastery with its sweet little 12th-century church and excellent traditional restaurant.
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Sveti Spas
The tiny monastery Sveti Spas was built below ground level because during Ottoman times it was illegal for a church to be taller than a mosque. It boasts an iconostasis 10m wide and 6m high, beautifully carved in the early 19th century. Look for the carvers' miniature self-portrait in the left side of the carving. Across the cloister is a room with the Tomb and Museum of Goce Delčev, independence campaigner and national hero, killed by the Ottomans in 1903.
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
