Macedonia Skopje Travel Guide Sightseeing Trip Directory #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL

Statues Skopje: Why So Many?

December 4, 2018

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Statues Skopje is part of the #NoCollusion, No Albania for TPOL where I break my 100 country count mark. See the World Map for where I’ve been.

Macedonia was the 100th country I have visited. At first, I thought they built the statue of Alexander the Great in the square to honor that momentous occasion. As it turns out, there are statues all over the place depicting everything and anything. None of them are small in stature. While each is impressive on its own, the sheer volume and proximity of one to the next makes the square look more like a hoarder’s garage than a tribute to conquerors and culture.

I found it amusing to see person after person walk a few paces, stop, take a photo of a statue, only to do it again moments later. I did the same and came away with some great shots both by day and by night. Since I was in Skopje for only one night, I appreciated the novelty of being in this statue paradise. However, I wonder if the locals feel that the benefit of building a statue amusement park to attract tourists was money well spent. The grandiose statues reminded me of Detroit building an 11-foot, 3,500-pound bronze statue of RoboCop as a cultural symbol of the city.

Here are my photos of the statues set among the backdrop of interesting architecture:

a statue of a horse riding on a pedestal with a fountain in front of buildings a group of people walking in a plaza with a building in the background a statue of a man riding a horse on a pillar a statue of a man on a horse in a city a statue of a man in front of a building a large statue of a man on a horse on a pedestal in a city a statue of a man and woman in front of a white building a group of people walking on a stone bridge a large city with a statue of a man riding a horse a bridge over a river with a large building a river with buildings and trees a building with columns and a bridge over a river a statue of a man in a park a group of people on a bridge a statue of a man on a horse by a river a statue of two men on a pedestal a stone bridge with people walking on it a stone bridge with arches and people walking on it a statue of a man on top of a fountain a fountain with lions on it a fountain with statues of people sitting on it a statue of a man on a horse on a stone platform next to a river a group of people walking in a city a large statue of a man riding a horse on a pedestal in a city a statue of a man sitting on a suitcase a statue of a man in a suit a bridge with statues and a flag on it a ship in a body of water a statue of two people sitting at a table