Picture of Detail of the Sveti Dimitrija church (Skopje, Macedonia)

Inside of the Sveti Dimitrija orthodox church

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The biggest cross in the world overlooking a city with minarets, a bazaar with a distinct Turkish atmosphere: Skopje is a mixture of different culture with a history dating back thousands of years.
Apart from an impressive interior of the below-the-ground church, with some amazingly beautiful icons, we also saw the tomb of the national hero of Macedonia: Goce Delcev, who fought and died for Macedonian independence in the early 20th century. The wooden belltower gives the opportunity of close-up views over the old city. From here, we continued walking the streets of the old city, but unfortunately the shops were closed for the day and were pretty quiet. We saw several mosques, of which the most important one, Mustafa Pasha, was unfortunately closed for reconstruction works. Instead, we saw Gazi Issa Bey mosque, which has some elegant tombstones in its garden. A friendly guy guided us around just before prayer started. From here, we returned to walk through the compact city centre of Skopje, and walked up to the fortress or Kale. While looking good from below, the condition of the fortress inside was disappointing. Reconstruction seems to be going on, and sure enough, digging through around 6,000 years of history is not easy. It is just a shame: this place could be so much nicer still. What does not change, of course, is that the views over the bazaar as well as the modern city are the best anywhere in Skopje.
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