MUSEUM OF MACEDONIA (МУЗЕЈ МАКЕДОНИЈА МАКЕДОНИЈА - MUZEU I MAQEDONISË)

Located in Stara Čaršija, between the Mustafa-Pacha mosque and the Kuršumli caravanserai, this museum (Музеј на Република Северна Македонија/Muzej na Republika Severna Makedonija, Muzeu i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut) is the largest in the country. Founded in 1924, it has been housed since 1976 in a vast concrete building with cubic forms that advance in terraces. Designed by architects Kiril Muratovski (b. 1930) and Mimoza Nestorova-Tomić (b. 1929), it boasts 6,000^m2 of exhibition space divided between three sections of ethnology, archaeology and art history. However, it suffers from a dated presentation and, above all, from competition from the National Archaeological Museum. Part of the archaeology collection has been transferred to the latter. In the process, 130 objects have disappeared, probably stolen. The ethnology section includes some sixty traditional costumes from all regions of the country. Note in particular this wedding dress from Mariovo, in the south. It weighs 40 kg and comes with a wig that the bride had to wear for a month after the ceremony, as a symbol of her virginity. Photos and models show the different architectural styles of traditional housing, as well as pottery and fishing activities.

Goddess Menada and Virgin Pelagonitisa. The archaeology section covers a broad period from the ^6th millennium BC to the ^7th century AD. It contains Neolithic votive statuettes, pottery from various periods and the famous Illyrian statuette of the goddess Menada (^6th century BC) from Tetovo. Also on display are the statue of the "Modest" Venus from the site of the ancient Scupi and some of the very rare Byzantine terracotta icons from Vinica (near Kočani). The art history section focuses on Christian art from the ^10th to the ^19th century, with the country's second-richest collection of painted icons, after that of Ohrid. The masterpiece comes from the monastery of Zrze (near Prilep). It is the icon of the "Pelagonian Mother of God" (Bogorodica Pelagonitisa), executed in 1422. The infant Christ appears without a halo, almost "disarticulated", in an astonishing position, as if performing a rotational movement, placing his head against that of his mother and caressing her face with his left hand. The section also includes copies of Byzantine church frescoes.