Prehistoric and Ottoman-period museums at Skopje Kale to open next year

Two new museums at Skopje's Kale fortress — a Prehistoric Museum and a Museum of the Ottoman Period — are scheduled to open next year and will display artifacts recovered during large-scale archaeological excavations carried out between 2007 and 2016. The exhibitions will be developed using contemporary museological principles, with an emphasis on interactivity, narrative and multimedia presentation.

A commission made up of curators employed at the future museums, curators from the City of Skopje Museum and staff from the Administration for Protection of Cultural Heritage reviewed and revised the collection to select objects for display.

Vesela Chestojeva, director of the Administration for Protection of Cultural Heritage, said that more than 5,000 artifacts were uncovered during the major excavations at Kale and stressed the history of how the project moved forward.

“Unfortunately, from 2017 to 2024 these objects were kept in substandard conditions here, at Kale. With the arrival of the new government in 2024, the Administration for Protection of Cultural Heritage as the investor of these two buildings submitted information to the Government and managed to secure funds of eight million denars and formed a working group, which prepared a draft calculation, on the basis of which a tender was announced for current maintenance, adaptation and rehabilitation of the Prehistoric Museum and the Museum of the Ottoman Period. The contractor 'Net Invest' from Tearce was chosen and in less than a year the buildings are already finished. For seven years they were left to the mercy of time,” she said.

Heritage status and management

Government procedures are in the final stage for declaring Skopje Fortress (Kale) cultural heritage of particular importance, in the subcategory of great importance. That decision will divide responsibilities between the Archaeological Museum and the City of Skopje: the Archaeological Museum will take over management of the two museum buildings and arrange their interiors, integrating them into the city’s cultural offer ahead of Skopje’s European Capital of Culture programme in 2028.

Chestojeva added that the Administration will complete its work at Kale and relocate to Plaošnik so that the buildings there, which for years were neglected, can be put into use.

Magdalena Manaskova, director of the Archaeological Museum, said her institution will continue the work started by the Administration. She announced that the museum team would begin interior fitting and preparation for opening on Tuesday.

“Construction work is finished and by a government decision, the Archaeological Museum received the objects obtained during the archaeological excavations at Kale and is currently working on the concept that will be presented in the Prehistoric Museum and the Museum of the Ottoman Period. The conceptual author of the two museums is the long-time researcher and head of archaeological excavations of Skopje Fortress, prof. Dr. Dragi Mitrevski, and the author of the exhibition design is prof. Dr. Jovan Ivanovski. We also created the visual identity of the museums, whose conceptual author is prof. Dr. Gordana Vrencovska,” Manaskova said.

Photo: K. Popov)