Why I just couldn’t like Skopje

Sometimes destinations are underwhelming. It’s not fun and can leave you feeling disappointed. But when you’ve been interested in a city for a long time, it makes it harder to accept the feeling that you simply don’t like the place. You can’t love every place you go to and sometimes you have to call a spade a spade and say: this is not somewhere I would come back to. 

I wanted to like Skopje. I really did. 

If I were to put it simply, I would say I just didn’t like Skopje (and I definitely didn’t), but if I’m being fair, I think my thoughts on the Macedonian capital were maybe marred by my own expectations.

Skopje: meeting place of new and old? Not really.

Thoughts on Skopje: what did I know going in?

I knew that the city had embarked on an ambitious and much-criticised facelift/mass building-spree called Skopje2014. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that this gigantic scheme is what has put Skopje on the map in recent years, or at least is what has left the largest lasting impression on those who have travelled through. Skopje2014 was essentially the plan to rebuild central Skopje.

I knew that the project has been controversial for being (at least partly) an exercise in nation building; the project has focused on grand, monumental grand buildings in an attempt to build a stronger connection between current-day Skopje and the historic region of Macedonia (much to the anger of Greece). Many critics have argued this connection is fake or misleading as the current slavic population moved into the area far more recently than the time of the Ancient Greek. (And it is precisely this claim that has caused huge issues between the two countries.)

I also knew that almost everyone I know who’d been had had pretty mixed feelings about the place (including Adventurous Kate).

And yet, I really expected I would like the city. I’m all about uncovering hidden gems and there’s little I like more than a weird town or a bizarre city with a story. And in the past, I’ve ended up falling in love with cities that others have dismissed as boring or too poor. I even reasoned that plenty of Western European cities employed ‘disingenuous’ or ‘inauthentic’ classical architecture in the early 1900s to give buildings like libraries, banks or town halls a staunchly Roman feel (i.e. lots of pillars). How was Skopje any different?

The reality? I found Skopje to be a hot mess. Literally. 

More on weird places: 6 of the strangest places in Europe

The buildings of Skopje

It was absolutely baking when we arrived at midday and the sweltering streets of the newly-developed riverbank and Macedonia Square were deserted (possibly because they offered so little shade). As we walked past one monolithic structure after the next, my disappointment grew. These buildings didn’t evoke the grandeur or power of Greco-Roman architecture – they just looked tacky and out of place. I hadn’t reckoned with how soulless the area would feel – this was far from the buzz of a huge city.

The redeveloped riverbank, including a very narrow building that clearly did not need to be so grand.

What’s more, thrown into the mix were several gargantuan pirate ships which actually then obscured your view of the buildings across the river. I genuinely cannot understand why anyone thought these would be a good idea. (Click here to check them out.)

More on architecture: Architecture in Sarajevo: a history lesson

The statues of Skopje

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And then there’s the statuary. Again, I already knew they had gone a bit overboard but throwing up statues, but what I hadn’t realised was that there are actually more statues in Skopje than people (this is possibly not true). It was insane: they were crowded on bridges, perching on the edges of buildings, standing in fountains, dotted around open squares. I don’t understand how underwhelming a Macedonian’s life has to be to be denied their own statue – it felt like everyone in history had been given one. They just have to film an episode of Doctor Who with the Weeping Angels here in future.

Statues manning one of the city’s new bridges

Spot any statues here?

Turning the corner we then clocked eyes on the Warrior on a Horse statue (which is of course intended to be Alexander the Great but was never officially named as such). This statue really is on a giant scale, with a Vegas-style fountain sitting proudly beneath it. The statue itself, funnily enough, I quite liked. Despite its monstrous size, it is quite well done and the fountains offered a welcome bit of refreshment on such a hot day.

However after seeing this humongous obelisk looming over a largely empty concrete square instantly made me think of some sort of dictatorship or authoritarian regime. The whole square would honestly not have seemed out of place in North Korea or Turkmenistan.

The Old Town

After sitting on a shaded bench for a little while, we then headed over the river to the Old Bazaar, to see the city’s old town. But we found it a little… empty.

We arrived in the early evening, around 5pm, and a lot of shops were already shutting up and foot traffic had fallen to just a few stragglers. The area and its narrow streets had a bit of charm but it was in stark contrast to the old towns we came across in Prizren or Sarajevo, which also had a strong Ottoman influence, but were bustling with life until well past 11pm. Skopje’s bazaar simply lacked atmosphere.

View of Skopje from the Kale Fortress

From here, we went to the old Kale Fortress which seemed to have been carefully restored to form a solid line on the city skyline. But on entering it was pretty clear that any restoration was limited to what you could see from the outside. Apart from the walls, everything else had been left in neglected ruins, with a few modern half-built structures dotted around. Again, I had the feeling of a soulless city built for show.

After the fortress, we couldn’t help but wonder why so much money was spent on new buildings that could have been invested in existing historic traces: the fortress or the bazaar. Of course, the answer lies somewhere mixed up with the creation of the ‘new’ Macedonian national image, with the city’s fake historic buildings symbolising some sort of rebirth. The government clearly decided the grander, the better.

On a somewhat poetic (i.e. pretentious) note, it made me think of the city not as a blank canvas, but instead like a sketchbook full of previously-abandoned unfinished drafts.

Thoughts on Skopje: redeeming features

So was it all bad in Skopje? Well actually, no.

The food in Skopje was a big redeeming feature

As evening came around, we sought out a well-rated traditional restaurant (Gostilnica Jole) and had a great slap-up meal of fish, travče gravče (a local specialty of stewed beans), bread, wine and cheese.

Plus, come nightfall and Macedonia Square came alive with plenty of people milling about the centre, the fountains and the benches, as well as filling the handful of beer gardens lining the square.

Macedonia Square came alive at night

Is Skopje worth visiting?

So is it best to skip Skopje altogether? Again – no.

As much as I felt disappointed in what I found in Skopje, I think it’s well worth visiting to see the bizarre contrast for yourself and make up your own mind.

I also think there might be some hope for Skopje after all; the city simply needs to grow into its new size. With the huge new square and riverbank, plus numerous grandiose avenues and the old bazaar on top, there’s simply a lot of space to fill for a city of around half a million. They’ve built the Skopje’s new heart, but it isn’t quite beating yet. (I really was feeling quite poetic in Skopje).

Plus, after doing some more research, it looks like a lot of the largest statues of the Skopje2014 project are set to be dismantled or changed in order to help bolster relations with Greece… watch this space.

So, in summary: do go to Skopje – but don’t linger. And don’t have any expectations. Except to expect the unexpected. And eat well.

Onward travel?

Backpacking in the Balkans
Bulgaria
Albania