Classical Makeover Awaits Macedonia's Main Square

Construction works were launched on Thursday aiming to transform the city's Macedonia Square in line with the grand government revamp called Skopje 2014.

First on the agenda is construction of a large ground-level "jumping-jet" fountain, which will be 10 x 20 metres wide.

The fountain will be built next to the existing Classical-style fountain that surrounds a large equestrian statue of Alexander the Great, the focal point of Skopje 2014.

The revamp will continue with the laying of white and grey cobblestones that will form floral patterns on the ground, alongside the existing candelabras and benches.

The makeover will cost around €2.5 million, the authorities say. The Skopje municipality will cover one-third of the cost while the rest will come from the government.

The plan for the revamp, revealed last August, follows a controversial suggestion from Skopje Mayor Koce Trajanovski, who wants the cobblestones largely removed from the square during the 2004 revamp brought back.

Critics have called the new facelift a waste of money because the square underwent major construction works just ten years ago.

However, Trajanovski has insisted that the construction of several large monuments over the past few years had created serious damage, which needs to be fixed.

The start of the revamp prompted the usual exchange of barbs between the opposition and ruling party.

The main opposition Social Democratic Party, SDSM, in a press release said that the decision to place a new fountain next to an existing one reflected the murky tendering procedures favoured by the ruling party in the city revamp.

The ruling VMRO DPMNE party replied that the opposition criticized the project only because it...