Macedonia: Monuments in Skopje, Macedonia

Phillip II of Macedon - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

In the summer of 338 BC the great Macedonian army, about 30000, are faced with almost the same number of enemy force of Athenians, Thebans and Bostian in town Chaeronea. It was a disaster.

In the plane of Chaeronea Macedonian phalanx proved its superiority over traditional hoplitski forces. Opposing the Allied forces suffered heavy casualties, including full and so-called holy orders.

Decisive Macedonian victory have made Philip master of the situation. The gathered representatives from all regions of the city of Corinth, has forced the coast and forming the so-called "League of Corinth" under his leadership. Of course, all participants' city-states "have lost their independence, they actually become part of a strong empire of Philip of Macedon. Battle of Chaeronea marks the epoch that buried the freedom of non-Macedonian cities. Military victory has incorporated political deal that Philip was given a blank map of interventions when and where he had need.

Alexander the Great - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Alexander III the Great, the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire is considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. He was inspiration for later conquerors such as Hannibal the Carthaginian, the Romans Pompey and Caesar, and Napoleon. Alexander was born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. He was son of Philip II, King of Macedonia, and Olympias, the princess of neighboring Epirus. He spent his childhood watching his father transforming Macedonia into a great military power, winning victory after victory on the battlefields throughout the Balkans. When he was 13, Philip hired the Greek philosopher Aristotle to be Alexander’s personal tutor. During the next three years Aristotle gave Alexander a training in rhetoric and literature and stimulated his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance in Alexander’s later life. In 340, when Philip assembled a large Macedonian army and invaded Thrace, he left his 16 years old son with the power to rule Macedonia in his absence as regent, which shows that even at such young age Alexander was recognized as quite capable. But as the Macedonian army advanced deep into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi bordering north-eastern Macedonia rebelled and posed a danger to the country. Alexander assembled an army, led it against the rebels, and with swift action defeated the Maedi, captured their stronghold, and renamed it after himself to Alexandropolis.

Two years later in 338 BC, Philip gave his son a commanding post among the senior generals as the Macedonian army invaded Greece. At the Battle of Chaeronea the Greeks were defeated and Alexander displayed his bravery by destroying the elite Greek force, the Theban Secret Band. Some ancient historians recorded that the Macedonians won the battle thanks to his bravery.

Justinian the 1st - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

We continue to present famous people from world history, whose origin was from Macedonia. In the following we will make a brief summary of the character and the accomplishments of the famous Byzantine Emperor Justinian the 1st also known as the Grate. Most of the researchers and historians ﬁgured that there is no doubt that he was born near Skopje. This fact is represented in the Catholic encyclopaedia ( title: Justinian).The real name of Emperor Justinian was Flavius Petrus Sabbatius Justinianus. He was born in 482 or 483. Some speculate that even as a child he was adopted by Byzantine Emperor named Justin (who ruled from 518 till 527), because he was the son of his sister. These researchers came to this conclusion on the bases of the name Justinian, which was given to him. It is known that eight years after his coming to power, Justinian ordered his birth place be well decorated, after which it got the name “Justinian Prima”. Some researchers claim that Justinian didn’t speak the Greek language at all. For example the author Christopher Hibert in his book “Cities and civilisations”, on page 59 writes that there are no evidence that the Emperor Justinian spoke the Greek language well. Here we can read:“As a young man Justinian joined his uncle Justin in Constantinople, where he acquired a solid education, although he never learn to speak Greek well”. Justinian was married to Theodora, who before that was a dancer.

Tsar Samuil - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Tsar Samuil established the first Macedonian state in 976 A.D. lasting until 1018, following the defeat at the hands of the Byzantines. Samuil's Empire consisted of the entire region of Macedonia, as well as Thessaly, Epirus, Albania, Serbia, Duklja, Travina, Zahumlje, Neretva, and a considerable part of Bulgaria. In this empire the majority of the population were Macedonians, followed by Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, Romaioi (Byzantines), Albanians, and Vlachs. The official language of the empire was Macedonian.

"Perched in his royal seat high over the city of Ohrid, Tsar Samuil fought the Byzantine invaders who frequently tried to take over Macedonia. A ruler as well as a warrior, he led a brave and loyal army who would follow him to the grave."

Saints Cyril and Methodius - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe Old Church Slavonic. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "equal-to-apostles"

Saint Clement and Saint Naum - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Saint Naum of Ohrid – The Miracle Maker (830—23rd December 910), was a medieval ascetic, writer, teacher and one of the founders of the Slavic and Macedonian literacy and culture. The sources from which information about him can be obtained are the following: Two Slavic hagiographies, the Greek hagiography, the Pannonian Legends and Clement's Comprehensive hagiography. There it is written that “the Saint and great father Naum came from Moesia. After he was educated by his noble [parents], he decided that aristocracy and wealth were like a weed and he joined Constantine the Philosopher and his brother Methodius, who were equal to the apostles.”
Saint Naum followed the Thessaloniki brothers in the course of their mission among the Slavs in Moravia and Pannonia, where for many years (863-885) he gave sermons about God’s word to the Slavic peoples in their mother tongue, he followed them to Rome, where in 868 Pope Adrian II (867-872) ordained him a deacon, after which he received the title of presbyter, and later on he became a devoted helper of Saint Methodius in Pannonia. After the death of Saint Methodius (yr. 885), the disciples of the Holy Brothers fraught with harsh temptations, especially when the old enemy of the Slavic culture - the German Viking, became the Moravian Bishop. The preachers were thrown into a dark room, shackled, and subjected to torture. Having heard their prayers, God made a miracle: there was an earthquake, the walls of the prison toppled, and the shackles broke off. When the people witnessed that, they were convinced in the holiness of the prisoners, but Viking interpreted this divine sign as a work of the devil and banished Saint Naum and his fellow ascetics to Velikomoravia. The Holy preachers, guided by the Divine Providence, made many miracles before they reached the Danube. There they divided into groups. Some of them went in the direction of Moesia, whereas others towards Dacia and Illyria, "spreading the Divine Providence." Venerable Naum along with Saint Clement and Saint Angelarij travelled to Bulgaria. The Sacred Bulgarian King Michael (Boris) gladly greeted the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He sent St. Clement on a teaching mission to Macedonia, whereas St. Naum remained in the capital Pliska. Saint Naum organized a Slavic educational and literary centre, not in the capital Pliska, where the residence of the Bysantian Archbishop of Bulgaria was situated, but rather in the adjacent Slavic town Preslav. Venerable Naum started teaching and giving sermons in the monastery built in the name of Saint Pantaleon, near Preslav (886-893). In the year 893 St. Clement was ordained Bishop of Belica/Velica. Following this event, St. Naum was appointed to his position as a teacher. King Simeon sent Venerable Naum to Kutmichevica. “Naum and Clement arrived in the Illyrian and Lychnidos regions.” It was here that St. Naum strengthened his educational work, together with St. Clement for seven years continuously, and established the Ohrid Literary School, also known as the First Slavic University. Together with St. Clement, they were named “the new Moses and Aaron." While St. Clement was working as a Bishop in Ohrid (holding the title Bishop of Velica), St. Naum founded a new monastery on the southern shore of Ohrid Lake, in honor of the Holy Archangels. This monastery exists even today and adorns the shore; as the name of St. Naum adorns the history of the Slavic Christianity throughout the centuries and represents a spring of miraculous power and a sanctuary for the sick and the disadvantaged. St. Naum was surrounded by many a monk from all parts of the Balkans. He was a wise teacher, the only superior of the monks, a zealous ascetic, miraculous with his prayers and ecclesiasticism. He was assiduous in his efforts to translate the Holy Bible and other religious books from Greek into Slavic language. He is thought to have written The Canon for Apostle Andrej and the Canon for the Translation of the Relics of John Chrysostom.
He made miracles during and following his earthly life. His miraculous relics, which rest in the monastic church, up to this day dazzle with their miracles, especially when it comes to curing serious diseases, in particular curing insanity. He passed away in the first half of X century, i.e. December 23rd 910, in the monastery that he himself established, which today bears his name, “Saint Naum”.

Saint Clement of OhridHad it not been for the missionary work of Sts. Clement and Naum in Ohrid, the enlightening Christian and educational feat of the Holy Brothers would have practically been lost. These students of Sts. Cyril and Methodius laid the foundations of Christianity and Slav literacy in their homeland Macedonia. St. Clement was the first Macedonian of spirit erudition and literacy. His activities were firmly linked with the true and thorough Christianization of the Macedonian Slavs, as well as with the foundation and organization of the First Slav Episcopate in Ohrid and Kutmitchevica. St. Clement continued with the translation of the Holy Scriptures in the language of the Macedonian Slavs and he founded the Ohrid University, which took him a step further than his teachers. He created the new Slav alphabet, called Cyrillic, in honor of his teacher St. Cyril of Thessaloniki.

About 3,500 students sought their education at the University of St. Clement. Many of them were ordained priests, deacons and arch-deacons, and many were sent on missions among the Slav peoples on the Balkan Peninsula, and even further abroad. A large number of them also reached far away Russia.

In 893 AD, St. Clement was enthroned bishop. He was the first Slav bishop in the all-Slav Bishopric of Belica. This Slav bishopric is rightly considered by some Church historians as the first organized Slav Church on the Balkan Peninsula. The Bulgarian Church of the time, that was organized following the Christianization of the Bulgarians in 846 AD, had senior Byzantine clergy.

Thus, St. Clement, student and affiliate of the Slav apostles and teachers Cyril and Methodius, became the first Macedonian Slav bishop, renowned man of letters, teacher, and preacher of the Christian Gospels in the ninth and tenth century. He is the founder of Slav literacy and literature in Macedonia. The model he set out for his life was that of his teacher, the great Methodius, and he took care and prayed not to sway from his ways. He knew Methodus like no one else, for he had been with him from the days of his youth, and was witness to his deeds and achievements. St. Clement was one of those Slav youths that the Holy Bothers prepared as aides in their missions in Moravia and Panonia, and later among the Macedonian Slavs. They were trained to translate the Holy Writ and the Holy Scriptures from Greek into the language of the Macedonian Slavs. One can rightly conclude that St. Clement was a part of the translating activities of the Holy Brothers, as well as an author in his own stead. Not only did he preach, he also wrote down his discourses, so as to assist the inexperienced priests in their sermons. Led by such an aim he wrote sermons, patterns for all holidays round the year.The Literary Activity of St. Clement of OhridThe total number of all St. Clement's epistles and morals has not yet been established. To this day they have not been collected in one Complete Works. We find them in transcripts from the twelfth and thirteenth century, where often St. John Chrisostomos is listed as the author, although the content, language, and style reveal St. Clement as the author. He is also probably the author of the Panonic Hagiography of Sts. Clement and Methodius. He translated the Flower Triode that contains church songs sung from Easter to Pentecost. There is the probability that he is the author of the Holy Service and the Life of St. Clement, the Roman Pope, as well as of the oldest service dedicated to St. Cyril and St. Methodius.

Gotse Delchev - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Georgi Nikolov Delchev (1872–1903) was an important revolutionary figure in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia and Thrace at the turn of the 20th century. He was one of the leaders of what is commonly known today asInternal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), a paramilitary organization active in the Ottoman territories in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century

Nikola Karev - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Nikola Janakiev Karev was a revolutionary in Ottoman-ruled Macedonia. He was born 23 November 1877 in Kruševo and died 27 April 1905 in the village of Rajčani, both today in the Republic of Macedonia. Karev was a local leader of what later became known as the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO)

Dame Gruev - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia

Damian Jovanov Gruev or just Dame Gruev (Smilevo, January 19, 1871 - Rusinovo, December 23, 1906) was a Macedonian revolutionary, founder and one of the most prominent members of the Macedonian Revolutionary Organization.

Gate Macedonia - Monument in Skopje, Macedonia