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:
If anyone is actually interested in the story behind this, search “Skopje 2014.”