Esma Redzepova's Kale house vandalized and left to rot

The house on Kale that once belonged to Esma Redzepova Teodosievska has been left in a state of serious neglect and vandalism, activists and visitors say, with broken windows, stolen fixtures and personal mementos scattered or missing.

From the street the building still hints at its former grandeur, but the rear and interior reveal a different picture: overgrown yards, trash piled around the property and rooms that show signs of forced entry and looting.

Inside, traces of a personal history abandoned

Reporters who visited the home that Esma bequeathed to the state — with the intent it become a museum and humanitarian centre — found doors and furniture gone, stage costumes and elegant dresses left to mildew, and, according to family members, even the urn of her late husband Stevo Teodosievski removed. In one room remains a large wooden cross that belonged to Stevo, standing among dusty photographs and unpaid medical bills.

Esma Redzepova spent most of her life in that house on Kale and raised 48 adopted children there; she also had a long-standing wish for the residence to serve the public. "Парите ги заработив од концерти, од луѓето кои купуваа билети и затоа сакам овој дом да му го оставам на мојот народ како културен центар и музеј", she said in earlier interviews.

Since her death in December 2016 a complex property dispute between the state and some relatives and adopted children has delayed any conversion of the house. While court proceedings drag on, the building remains exposed and vulnerable to thieves and vandals. Nine years after her death, many ask whether the country has honoured the legacy of one of its most famous cultural ambassadors.

Photo: press material from the event