Skopje Walks

Macedonia Square is the main square of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The square is the biggest in Macedonia with total 18.500 m2.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, which together with the Old Theatre that was severely destroyed in the 1963 Skopje earthquake. In December 2008, a flagpole with the Macedonian flag was erected on Macedonia Square, near the Stone Bridge, as it was done on 68 other important locations throughout the country. On 2 May 2010, two monuments of Goce Delčev and Dame Gruev were erected near the Stone Bridge. The Centar Municipality built a high monument of fountain with Alexander the Great on Bucephalus, which was unveiled on 8 September 2011, on the 20-year anniversary of Macedonia's independence referendum from Yugoslavia. The three main streets that merge onto the square are Maksim Gorki, Dimitar Vlahov and Street Macedonia. Dimitar Vlahov Street was converted into a pedestrian street in 2011. Maksim Gorki, while not a pedestrian zone, is lined with Japanese Cherry trees, whose blossoms in spring mark a week-long series of Asian cultural events. Finally, Macedonia Street, the main pedestrian street, connects Macedonia Square to the Old Railway Station , which houses the City of Skopje Museum. Along Macedonia Street is the Mother Teresa Memorial House, which features an exhibit of artefacts from Mother Teresa's life. Mother Teresa's original family home was located near Macedonia Square, and a plaque marking the location can be found today. A feudal tower from the Middle Ages next to the Mother Teresa House still stands today, surprisingly withstanding the devastating 1963 earthquake. The most popular tourist walk starts from the Old Railway Station down Macedonia Street, past the Mother Teresa Memorial House and Feudal Tower, past Mother Teresa's birth house location, down Macedonia Square, across the Stone Bridge, past the Holocaust Museum, Museum of Macedonian Independence, towards the Turkish Bazaar and ending at the Kale Fortress. The reconstructed Old Theater and the new Archaeological Museum, expected to be complete in the 2012-2013 timeframe, will add additional cultural landmarks along the main tourist vertical. In May 2010, Marriott Hotels announced the construction of the first Marriott Hotel in the Balkans in Skopje on Macedonia Square, which is underway. Most of the above plans are part of the Skopje 2014 project.
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