As I covered in my blogpost a few days ago, Macedonia’s capital isn’t exactly over-run with good quality museums, however in addition to the Holocaust museum there is one other place, also of religious significance, which is worthy of a visit.
Born in Skopje to parents of Albanian heritage from what is now Kosovo, at the age of 18 Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu left her secular life behind to become a missionary, and is now known to the 
world as Mother Teresa. Built on an open square off Macedonia Street, the Memorial House of Mother Teresa is a remarkable monument to her life and work as a missionary and humanitarian. Built in a striking modernist style on the site of the Catholic church where she was baptised as a child, the building contains a photographic catalogue and important artifacts as well as exhibits which illustrate various aspects of her early life in Skopje – her childhood bedroom is recreated for example. Above the museum space is a light and airy chapel dominated by an unusual hexagonal window, and down in the basement of the building, past a small memorial garden, is a multi-media theatre where visitors can watch documentaries about Mother Teresa’s humanitarian works. Even if you’re not of a religious bent I’m sure you would find a visit to this building rewarding, although I’m not sure how Mother Teresa would have felt about the profligacy of the Macedonian government in erecting what is clearly a very expensive building in her honour…
July 5, 2011
Europe