Skopje Fortress - Excavation and Restoration Efforts

Excavation and Restoration Efforts

In late 2006 and early 2007, research and excavation of the Skopje Fortress funded by the Macedonian government had finally commenced. Researchers discovered woodwind instruments and clay ornaments dating as far back as 3000 B.O.T. Excavation of the main fortress also revealed houses below the fortress' visible level. The discoveries are believed to have belonged to inhabitants of Scupi on which the fortress was built. Archaeological excavations continued in 2009.

In May 2010, archeologists unearthed the largest stash of Byzantine coins ever found in Macedonia at the fortress.

After the foundations of a 13th century church were found within the complex, the Cultural Heritage Protection Office actioned a project to restore it in the form of a church museum. Ethnic Albanian groups, with DUI at the forefront, claimed the site contained an older Illyrian structure, and that by virtue of their claimed Illyrian ancestry, that the site should be theirs.

On February 10, 2011, late at night, a crowd of about 100 ethnic Albanians converged on the site to find over 50 construction workers from Bitola working on the steel church museum. When questioned who ordered the construction the workers refused to answer but revealed that they were instructed to start building from 10:00 PM over the night. Some of the crowd proceeded to destroy and vandalize parts of the scaffolding, the same day restoration was resumed after it was officially halted by the government. The construction workers were removed from the building site by the Macedonian police. According to media footage, high-ranking ethnic Albanian ministers and members of DUI leadership were among the crowd. Two weeks prior to the event, DUI spokespeople had demanded the termination of the project. During the next two days, Macedonians on Facebook called on each other to converge on the site and protect the site and its workers. Members of both groups arrived almost simultaneously on February 13 and a violent clash erupted, leaving around 10 injured, including 2 policemen.

The opposition, Macedonian and Albanian, condemned the violence, criticized the prime minister Nikola Gruevski for creating inter-ethnic tensions and called to the government to take responsibility for it. The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia, the most numerous opposition party, claimed that this event was staged as an attempt to distract the people of Macedonia from the reigning poverty and corruption. The Albanian New Democracy also reacted that "they should not destroy the future of the country by focusing on its past" The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs reacted:

"The decision of the Government of Macedonia to construct a church-museum on the Skopje Fortress on its most visible spot is going to create serious tensions in the society. Turkey pays special attention to preserving and protecting the cultural heritage that is left in Macedonia from the Ottoman Empire"

Various political analysts claimed that the incident was orchestrated by the Macedonian and Albanian governing parties, namely VMRO-DPMNE and the Democratic Union for Integration. Vllado Dimovski, head of the "Center for inter-ethnic tolerance" in Macedonia, stated that "the coalition partners (VMRO-DPMNE and DUI) orchestrated the violent event on the Skopje Fortress to distract the public from the problems that the country is facing".