Inside Skopje Fortress is an unfinished structure which now sits there as a rather awkward arrangement of stones, metal and unresolved civic ambition. It was intended to become a church-shaped museum, built over the remains of a medieval church found during archaeological work at the Kale, another name for the fortress. In theory and when things aren’t sub-optimal, this would have interpreted the Christian history of the site, but in practice, it became another reminder that in the Balkans, archaeology is rarely allowed the quiet life of being about old stones. The fortress has layers of Roman, Byzantine, medieval, Ottoman and modern history, which is fascinating for visitors but deeply inconvenient for anyone hoping to produce one neat national story without several other groups objecting.
The project became highly controversial in 2011, with Albanian political groups and community representatives arguing that the building looked too much like a new church and gave too much prominence to one version of the fortress’s past. Some also pointed to Ottoman and Islamic layers of the site, including the remains of a mosque, and argued that these were not being treated with the same enthusiasm. Macedonian supporters saw the work as a legitimate recognition of the medieval Christian remains. The dispute escalated into protests and clashes at the fortress in February 2011, with several people injured, after which the project was halted. It wasn’t quite what the archaeologists had hoped for, they’d found thousands of artefacts over a ten year archaeological study and it seems that they were quite keen for the story of this site to be told.
So, this is the result, an abandoned stone structure which is entirely out of keeping with the area around it. It might now be best to demolish it as it’s damaged anyway, scarring the landscape. It’s not for me to get involved in religious disputes, but this isn’t really the ideal way to show off an historic monument. Although, it is a reminder of history insomuch this land has been fought over on many occasions in the past.