This city of statues cannot be real! SKOPJE, North Macedonia

Hi everyone! This is the fifth video in my Balkans series.
The capital of North Macedonia, Skopje, is definitely not your average city. The government recently delivered on a controversial project called "Skopje 2014" with the aims of boosting tourism and building national pride. It might have cost a lot of money, but from a selfish tourist perspective, the statues and buildings that were erected are aesthetically pleasing.
In this video, I talk to some locals about Skopje 2014 and some of the statues, whilst also visiting the remains of the house where Mother Teresa was born.
Finally, I stumbled across the old railway station, featuring the clock stuck at 5:17 - the time on 26 July 1963 when a massive earthquake changed the fate of Skopje forever.
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:19 Name of the city
1:18 Tourist information
2:21 Alexander the Great
4:32 Statue of the Intellectuals
8:01 Along the river and Skopje 2014
9:53 Pirate ship
10:42 Bridge with statues
12:48 Other side of the river
14:31 Stone Bridge
15:44 Back to Alexander the Great
16:46 Mother Teresa
18:15 Arc
20:04 Park with statues
22:17 Old railway station
23:17 Closing remarks

Пікірлер: 73

  • @willieexplore
    @willieexplore2 жыл бұрын

    Hi everyone! Please show your support for this channel by hitting the 'Subscribe' and 'Like' buttons! Lots more great content coming your way soon!

  • @lulzimmuhaxheri1251

    @lulzimmuhaxheri1251

    2 жыл бұрын

    Hi Willie Explore, safe travel and best wishes wherever you go. Thanks for visiting our country Kosovo - Albania - Macedonia. About those statues in Scopje Scopje was capital city Kosova Vilayet, all true history is about to come out to the world showing what unjust is done to Albanians and how they devided our land and created fake states and fabricated history, A-lekë- sander was ILIRIAN and main trups in his army were Ilirians, he spoke Ilirians with them and noone could understand. So THOSE STATUES IN SKOPJE ARE ONLY FABRICATION.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@lulzimmuhaxheri1251 it is a fascinating part of the world and, as an outsider, I still have a lot to learn about the complexities!

  • @mellake7052

    @mellake7052

    Жыл бұрын

    @@willieexplore Nice, diplomatic reply. I sense a nasty comment has been shadow banned.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    @@mellake7052 I certainly keep a close tab on the comments yes

  • @milkatrajkovska5162
    @milkatrajkovska51622 жыл бұрын

    My beautiful Skopje, it is what it is but somehow still it’s my hometown 🙏🇲🇰🇦🇺

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    It is a fantastic city, you can be very proud!

  • @zosimopablo9943
    @zosimopablo99432 жыл бұрын

    The park has a great aesthetic and historical value, thank you Friend for sharing your exquisite video.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed the video, Skopje was a very interesting place to visit.

  • @strayamericans
    @strayamericans2 жыл бұрын

    Wow great video! Very informative, it makes me want to explore North Macedonia soon. Keep up the great content I’ll be looking out for your videos cheers!

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you very much you two! Hope you're having a great time in Montenegro! Lots to explore in the Balkans

  • @gabrielepoggi1079
    @gabrielepoggi1079 Жыл бұрын

    Marvellous city! I had the privilege to visit it back in 2019 before the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Definitely a great place to visit!

  • @shahnawaz_malik
    @shahnawaz_malik2 жыл бұрын

    Great video

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much! Great to hear from you, hope all is well on your side!

  • @YoutubeTravelerSoloVagabond
    @YoutubeTravelerSoloVagabond2 жыл бұрын

    nice job on your vids

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks man, appreciate your support!

  • @hristinatrajkovskatrajkovs74
    @hristinatrajkovskatrajkovs74 Жыл бұрын

    I am from Macedonia (Skopje) and I didn't know the story of 7 mountings. Thank you for visiting our country and sharing the story.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching Hristina! I read the story of the seven mountains at my hotel in Skopje. What a beautiful city, I really enjoyed my time there!

  • @speeddemon8977
    @speeddemon89772 жыл бұрын

    Mother Theresa is Albanian in fact her parents were from Shkodra north Albania they moved in Skopje were mother theresa was born and when mother theresa was born it was Ottoman Empire time the name macedonia did not exist even in the writings in the monument there you can see it was written in English Albanian and slavic. There are many Ethnic Albanians in Macedonia not just there but in Montenegro also kosovo as we all know 98% Albanian and in Greece. When Albania got independence from ottoman empire more then half our population and land was given to the neighboring countries by conference of London they did not like us at that time.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting, thanks for this perspective

  • @mellake7052

    @mellake7052

    Жыл бұрын

    Every region's borders changed after the Balkan Wars and hence every new nation has minorities. There are many Macedonians and Greeks in Albania. There are many Serbs in Kosovo. No, the whole of the Balkans was not "Albanian." Move on.

  • @connappliedscience4973

    @connappliedscience4973

    Жыл бұрын

    Spot on Speed Demon.

  • @mitarristanovic2299

    @mitarristanovic2299

    Жыл бұрын

    Albania has free thanks to Serbian soliders 1912.thay take victory against otomans.Albanian was otomans ally with some rebels formations of corse.

  • @jaadarl3902
    @jaadarl3902 Жыл бұрын

    Skopje seems peaceful and organize

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Very nice place!

  • @sheilam4525
    @sheilam4525 Жыл бұрын

    You will be sick of my comment alerts, Willie, so feel free to ignore! Me and my husband are enjoying going through your content, better than anything on T.V. that"s for sure. Again, I am ignorant to the history and politics of this country so I learned a lot. I find statues a bit eerie, in general, so I wouldn't enjoy walking here! But once again full of beautiful architecture and friendly locals although sunglasses guy would have p1ssed me off😂.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    I will never get tired of comments Sheila! And that is the ultimate compliment to receive - thank you so much for checking out my content! :) The politics is complex in this neighbourhood that's for sure. The statues certainly are polarising or divisive too. But I do like them, bizarre as some might be. As for the sunglasses guy, he did give me some useful information about the city for which I was grateful. This was a very interesting trip for me!

  • @sheilam4525

    @sheilam4525

    Жыл бұрын

    @@willieexplore you are very welcome. Re sunglasses guy, yes he was very nice, it was seeing him coming back again trying to flog another pair 😬. Suppose you can't blame him!

  • @MalanLombard
    @MalanLombard Жыл бұрын

    Nice man, jy gee n mens n ware gevoel vir die plekke

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Wonderlik om van jou te hoor Malan! Dankie vir jou terugvoering, hoop jy reis lekker saam!

  • @valerossi385
    @valerossi385 Жыл бұрын

    Skopje❤

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Great city to explore!

  • @georgepahiti3298
    @georgepahiti3298 Жыл бұрын

    Unfortunately Skopje as a city is not my cup of tea. The people are amazing but the amount of historical thievery is unlimited. They have stolen Greek and Bulgarian history and made it their own. All in the name of generating tourism and upholding a false narrative. A wannabe city, scattered with Greek and Bulgarian hero's. Disappointing, reminds me of Disney World! Nothing is authentic except for the amazing interaction you get from the locals and the food is so good!

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    I quite enjoyed my visit in Skopje but each to their own. Thanks for watching!

  • @RU-Aussie

    @RU-Aussie

    11 ай бұрын

    Modern greece was made in the 1830 by King Otto of Bavaria. The Bulgars are Tatars and kiss their Khan.

  • @rockuzin6220
    @rockuzin62202 жыл бұрын

    mother teresa is albanian not macedonian

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    That is not a debate I'm willing to enter. I'll stick to the facts instead. She was born in Skopje and her family was of Albanian descent.

  • @LilliR4116

    @LilliR4116

    Жыл бұрын

    Technically, her heritage is "Albanian", however as she was born in "Macedonia ", that makes her a Macedonian born, Albanian. It's like Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, she was born in Tasmania (Australia), her heritage family background is Australian, English etc... When she dies, the Danish will like to claim her as theirs as she will be their Queen one day, and the Aussies will claim her as theirs lol 🤷‍♀️ Regardless, Princess Mary is Australian born and bred which makes her "Australian", however now a Danish Royal - citizen.

  • @speeddemon8977
    @speeddemon89772 жыл бұрын

    the most ancient part of Skopje is the Albanian part where statue of Skenderbeg is all this new BS is nice for tourism but personally i don't like...

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    The statues certainly are very divisive, especially considering how much they've cost. I would not be happy if Cape Town started spending money on a similar initiative, that is for sure.

  • @user-wj5yz2pw5t

    @user-wj5yz2pw5t

    Жыл бұрын

    Skenderbeg was of Serbian origin anyway.

  • @RU-Aussie

    @RU-Aussie

    11 ай бұрын

    Skenderberg the great Christian king and killer of Muslims. Used the two headed symbol from the Romans as his own.

  • @faridamrani2178
    @faridamrani21782 жыл бұрын

    Geniese deinen aufenthalt

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    Danke schon!

  • @iamjus1
    @iamjus12 жыл бұрын

    you have definitely missed the albanian part of skopje. something more original and not all this new fake look alike old architecture. alexander the great - "Leka i Madh" is from albanian origin and guess how is it called the albanian currency? "Leke" but the world knows him as macedon, so anyway XDD. macedonian flag of today represents the fire in the middle where eight albanian princes crosses their swords over the fire by giving their oath and code of honour which we call it "Besa". when an albanian gives you the Besa to you, it means that he will protect you even it costs him with his life! Please watch the clip of this song and it will make more sense to you for what i am talking about. - "Adelina Ismajli - Skenderbe"

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    I wish I had more time to explore Skopje! As you pointed out, I only saw but a small part of the city. A good reason to go back there!

  • @speeddemon8977

    @speeddemon8977

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@willieexplore Welcome to the Balkans my friend everyone claims things but speaking historical facts the Albanians and the greeks are the most ancient and natives in the region and the Aromanians up north Romanians of today. Slavs arrived in 7th century. But anyway we all live in peace today N. Macedonians, Albanians, greeks all. We still have some nationalists but which country dosent. I hope you enjoyed ur time. Btw in Skopje you missed the Albanian part that is the oldest part not this new thing. N. Macedonia is like 35 to 40% Albanians 50 n.macedonians some turks roma etc. The Albanian part of macedonia is called Ilirida

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@speeddemon8977 thank you very much my friend, I had a great time in Skopje and learned so much about the region. I did go to Skopje Old Bazaar and that is in a separate vlog on my channel :)

  • @stefanstojance14

    @stefanstojance14

    2 жыл бұрын

    Old bazaar is the Turkish part of Skopje that borders between the Macedonian part and Albanian part. I know that a lot of Albanians have their a business. But they way you are saying it could be interpreted that Albanians had built the old bazaar which ofc isn't true. You might not like the new statues, but don't forget that the skanderbeg statue is also 10 years old. In fact a lot of Albanians like to spend their day or evenings at Macedonian square,they do that even more than Macedonains do. in Macedonia live 24% Albanians according to the last census a couple months ago. Macedonians are gennetically a mix between 70%-75% native balkan population and 25%-30%. In fact the Romanians and the Hungarians are gennetically more slav than us, even though they don't speak slavic. The south slavic people have their own culture which is a mix between native balkan and slavic. I am proud to be part slavic but I hate it when people use it as propaganda against us that we are invaders that doesn't belong to the balkan.And Albanians using it as propaganda to extend their territory.

  • @rekamud6635

    @rekamud6635

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@speeddemon8977 " we are macedonians, but we are greeks" greece and bulgaria its time to wake up

  • @robertomeraj8898
    @robertomeraj8898 Жыл бұрын

    Canot be real Macedonia,,, this is true Mister Willi. All of the statues are fake, because are Ilirians Alexander the Great and all of the statues are not Macedonian, because at the time is not existing the name macedonia.,,, BUT YOU ARE VERY SMART AND TOO MUCH EDUCATED.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching my videos my friend! Appreciate your support :)

  • @mellake7052

    @mellake7052

    Жыл бұрын

    @Robert Omeraj Macedonia is one of the oldest names on Earth and the region has always had that name since antiquity, and although it has been under occupation from various empires throughout time, it has always retained the name. Why do you make up lies? And when will YOU get educated? How does putting down others make you feel better?

  • @LilliR4116

    @LilliR4116

    Жыл бұрын

    @@mellake7052 lol 👏 Totally correct!!

  • @LilliR4116

    @LilliR4116

    Жыл бұрын

    @Robert Omeraj. Are you actually serious with your comment?...... Think it's time you hit the history and geography books, the real ones, not the kiddy. 🙂

  • @RU-Aussie

    @RU-Aussie

    11 ай бұрын

    You sound like a fool. Is there inbreeding in your family?

  • @connappliedscience4973
    @connappliedscience4973 Жыл бұрын

    Statues of historical figures that belong to other nations. That's why they had to change their name and flag. Slavs trying to rebrand themselves as ancient Greeks. Hilarious.

  • @willieexplore

    @willieexplore

    Жыл бұрын

    I could not possibly comment on the politics in other parts of the world!

  • @RU-Aussie

    @RU-Aussie

    11 ай бұрын

    Look at your Mum and Dad you are a Turk

  • @georgepahiti3298

    @georgepahiti3298

    11 ай бұрын

    @@RU-Aussiecome on mate, you’re and Australian Fake Macedonian who has rebranded Greek Macedonian history.

  • @tatjanavelkova5814

    @tatjanavelkova5814

    5 ай бұрын

    before 25 centuries FILIP KING, ALEXANDER TSAR ON MAKEDONIJA . IN MAKEDONIJA ----- EVERYTHING IS MACEDONIAN ! ! !

  • @connappliedscience4973

    @connappliedscience4973

    5 ай бұрын

    Da Da Da Vulgara, thats why you country has lost its name, flag and has an Albanian Prime Minister. @@tatjanavelkova5814

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