Ep. 53 - Skopje, North Macedonia
6000 years of history and another great city to add to the bucket list. Adventure 53 is a fan request taking us to the South Eastern European city of Skopje. Often regarded as one of Europe's most unusual capital cities, the unique gastronomic, architectural, historic, and natural appeals of Skopje make it a deserving candidate on any traveler's bucket list. Listen now!
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Transcription:
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Happy Friday, friends, and welcome to the Friday Take Five, the best five minute podcast for history and adventure lovers. I’m Mark Moran, your host, and I do my best to help you relive awesome travel memories, or give you the inspiration to book your next adventure. Every episode, we discover a new destination and a new story. With that, it’s time to jump in, to destination 53.
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Our latest episode is a fan request bringing us to South Eastern Europe and the capital city of The Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje. Is there a South Macedonia or even a Macedonia? Well, not anymore. The reason? Well, it all boils down to good ole geopolitics. In 2019, the country now known as the Republic of North Macedonia changed their name from the Republic of Macedonia due to a disagreement with neighboring Greece on which country had the rights to the name Macedonia.
Greece, citing its region of Macedonia, the history of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon, and and the presence of ethnic Greeks identifying themselves as Macedonians, felt as though there was too much ambiguity in the name Republic of Macedonia, and felt that the country to the north should add a geographic qualifier to their name.
Like any good political dispute, it went on for years. Since the republic’s inception in 1991, Greece and the country now known as North Macedonia argued over the name before finally setting on the new name and putting it into effect in 2019.
But enough of the geopolitics of today, because Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, has an awesome history too!
The site of the modern city has been inhabited for the past roughly 6000 years. For the first few thousand years, several tribes roamed the area, and eventually, Skopje, then Scupi, became the capital of the region of Dardania.
The Romans, in the expansion of their empire, incorporated Scupi into their holdings in the 1st century BC. When the Roman empire was divided into Eastern and Western blocs in 395 AD, Scupi went to the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire.
For a short time over the next thousand years or so, the city was contested between the Byzantine and Bulgarian empires. But then, things changed quite drastically. The Ottoman empire began its conquest to destroy the Byzantine empire, a goal at which they’d eventually succeed with the conquering of Constantinople in 1453. However, 61 years before, the Ottomans were able to capture Skopje and incorporate it into their budding empire, where it would remain for the next 520 or so years.
The Ottoman influence brought new architectural fixtures to the city like mosques and travelers inns like Suli An and Kapan An that are still standing today.
Earthquakes and other natural disasters throughout the years have destroyed many buildings time and time again, but the interesting effect is a funky mix of architecture from incredibly old buildings to brand new buildings pretending to be old and some just being plain weird. One of my favorite looking buildings in the city is the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts building, but I highly recommend taking a quick google trip if you haven’t already seen the awesome Skopje architecture.
What else is there to do in this cool city? Well the food is another can’t miss option that’s for sure. Skopje’s geographic location positions it well to highlight a fusion of Ottoman, Balkan, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern cuisines. I have my heart set on digging into some of the local favorites like Macedonian coffee, "pastrmajlija,", I totally butchered that, but a fluffy sort of dough topped with tender chunks of marinated meat and "ajvar," a flavorful red pepper and eggplant spread.
Another great item on my list is to get out and enjoy the surrounding nature of the city, including the beautiful Lake Matka and Matka canyon. I simply can’t wait to explore!
Once again, we’ve come across a great city with such a cool history. I hope you, like me, are considering adding Skopje to the adventure list if you haven’t already. That’s all for this week folks. We’ll catch you next time for another great adventure.
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Hey there! Thanks for listening to another episode of The Friday Take Five. If you haven’t already, be sure to give the show a 5 star rating on podcasting platforms, and share this episode with a friend. Have your own stories about Skopje or feedback on the show? I’d love to hear it so follow me and DM me on socials @FridayTakeFive or email me at thefridaytakefive@gmail.com. Stay curious, stay adventuring, and have a great weekend!
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