Skopje Ponders Fate of Fortress, Fought Over then Forgotten

The steel doors of the main entrance have been blocked by giant boulders for years. Photo: BIRN

Enter at your own risk

The steel doors of the main entrance have been blocked by giant boulders for years.

Locals, however, may guide a first-time visitor to a side entrance, previously used only when vehicles needed access but now the only way to enter the fortress.

When BIRN reporters visited recently, they stumbled upon city cleaners basking in the afternoon sun and a few guards from the Sokol [Hawk] private security agency hired to secure the fortress.

A single street vendor had stationed his small metal table at the very entrance, looking to profit from the few tourists and Skopje residents still, perhaps surprisingly, interested in visiting.

"Enter at your own risk," a security guard said with a smile, when asked if they were any potential hazards to be avoided.

"It should be safe during the day, as long as you stay away from the holes," he said, reassuringly.

The main road inside reveals a vast grass plateau, riddled with large holes from an abandoned archaeological dig.

Signs, ripped from the ground, warn visitors "Do not cross".

A glass-covered dome soon comes into sight. But red tape prevents visitors from approaching. It is the prehistoric-era museum that never opened.

Close to it is another empty building that is off-limits, this one built in stone in order to hold Ottoman-era artefacts found in the fortress. It, too, never opened.

Deeper into the fortress are piles of rubble and construction material and several porta cabins.

While the site is fairly clean, there are no benches to rest on or functioning garbage bins in sight.

'I remember...

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