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Every tourist to the Balkans has probably heard about the dramatic remaking of Macedonia’s capital, Skopje. Twenty-five years after the country peacefully won independence from the former Yugoslavia, its capital is in the midst of a huge face-lift: the construction of some 40 monuments, sculptures, facades and buildings.
The transformation is meant to sweep away the post-Soviet pall and attract tourists. I was one of them last year. Everywhere I looked, I felt small, dwarfed by shiny, new gargantuan bronze statues of Alexander the Great and his parents, Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, that lord over the main plaza. Galloping horses here and imposing Doric columns there round out various corners; faux-Baroque facades and balconies reminded me of Josef Stalin’s wedding cake-style apartments along East Berlin’s broad boulevards, which have a certain retro appeal these days but still feel overwrought.
Despite the immense investment here — the current estimate of the project is $727 million, according to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network — tour operators who aren’t closely linked with the country’s state-run tourism office are championing a different reason to visit the region: ecotourism.
This nascent industry is less interested in Skopje’s overhaul and more keen to spirit travelers along the country’s hiking trails to tucked-away Byzantine monasteries and caves, and arrange cycling tours and homestays with cordial Macedonians who can talk about their country’s culture and history.
My guide, Slobodan (who goes by his nickname, Danko), works for one of these operators, Macedonia Experience, run by Jane Josifovski, which organizes Jeep safaris, horseback riding, caving, diving and paragliding. My visit last year came when Macedonia had been in the headlines, as hundreds of thousands of refugees had crossed the country’s southern border en route to northern Europe. And yet, Mr. Josifovski told me, overnight stays and tourism in general in Macedonia were moving at a strong clip, helped along by cheap flights into Skopje on the budget airline Wizz Air and inexpensive travel within the country.
Every tourist to the Balkans has probably heard about the dramatic remaking of Macedonia’s capital, Skopje. Twenty-five years after the country peacefully won independence from the former Yugoslavia, its capital is in the midst of a huge face-lift: the construction of some 40 monuments, sculptures, facades and buildings.
The transformation is meant to sweep away the post-Soviet pall and attract tourists. I was one of them last year. Everywhere I looked, I felt small, dwarfed by shiny, new gargantuan bronze statues of Alexander the Great and his parents, Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, that lord over the main plaza. Galloping horses here and imposing Doric columns there round out various corners; faux-Baroque facades and balconies reminded me of Josef Stalin’s wedding cake-style apartments along East Berlin’s broad boulevards, which have a certain retro appeal these days but still feel overwrought.
Despite the immense investment here — the current estimate of the project is $727 million, according to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network — tour operators who aren’t closely linked with the country’s state-run tourism office are championing a different reason to visit the region: ecotourism.
This nascent industry is less interested in Skopje’s overhaul and more keen to spirit travelers along the country’s hiking trails to tucked-away Byzantine monasteries and caves, and arrange cycling tours and homestays with cordial Macedonians who can talk about their country’s culture and history.
My guide, Slobodan (who goes by his nickname, Danko), works for one of these operators, Macedonia Experience, run by Jane Josifovski, which organizes Jeep safaris, horseback riding, caving, diving and paragliding. My visit last year came when Macedonia had been in the headlines, as hundreds of thousands of refugees had crossed the country’s southern border en route to northern Europe. And yet, Mr. Josifovski told me, overnight stays and tourism in general in Macedonia were moving at a strong clip, helped along by cheap flights into Skopje on the budget airline Wizz Air and inexpensive travel within the country.