Macedonia is a small, mountainous country located on the Balkan Peninsula right between Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece, and Bulgaria. Covering a total area of just 25,713 km², it is a home of around 2 millions of people,including myself,who are proud to say that they live in a small country but with a huge and impressive history.
In fact, this small Balkan country back in ancient time used to be the greatest empire the world had ever seen!
Well let’s just not spoil the things for you, better let’s get started with all the facts that indicate that Macedonia actually might be the coolest country in the world:
- Macedonia is that old that it was actually mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible- making it a real Biblical country!
- Macedonia is the leading country in the entire world when it comes to the number of mountains and mountains peaks. Most of those mountain peaks to this day remain unexplored even by the locals!
- Macedonia has the fifth highest average elevation in Europe. More than 50 lakes and 35 mountains in the country are higher than 2000.
- Macedonian opium has even 14 morphine units, making it the best opium in the world.
- Macedonia was the number 1 country in the entire world to have full access to a wireless broadband connection in 2006.
- Mother Theresa of Calcutta was not actually from Calcutta, but from Macedonia. She was Catholic Albanian who was born and raised in the capital of Macedonia, Skopje.
- The Millennium Cross located on Vodno Mount in Skopje with its 66 meters height is considered to be the highest cross in the world!
- The monasteries St. Jovan Bigorski, St. Georgij Pobedonosec (both located in Debar and St. Bogorodica Prechista (located in Kichevo) are believed to have in their foundations portions of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
- Macedonia has the deepest underwater cave in the entire world! Cave Vrelo has a depth of 77 meters!
- In Macedonia Lord of the Rings’ fans have a special opportunity to visit a cave identical like the one in their favorite show. New York Times claims that Cave Pesha (located in Makedonski Brod) is identical as Helm’s Deep!
- Cyrillic alphabet, the foundation of the Slavic literacy, was actually established in Macedonia by the scholars St. Clement and St. Naum- students of the two brothers St. Cyril and St. Methodius who invented the Glagolitic alphabet.
- Macedonia used to be part of one of the most influential communist countries of the 20th century- Yugoslavia and the only member of Yugoslavia who managed to gain independence in a peaceful way back in 1991.
- Kokino observatory (near Kumanovo) was declared to be the fourth oldest astronomic observatory in the world by NASA.
- The first Christian on the Balkan peninsula was actually a Macedonian woman known as Lidija.
- If you are into ruby gemstones and you are in Europe- the only place where you can find them is Macedonia!
- One of the most iconic singers of all the time on the Balkan Peninsula, who also was declared by BBC to be “Elvis Presley of the Balkans”, was actually a Macedonian! Toshe Proeski, who tragically died in a car accident in Croatia in 2007, was a pop-rock singer, humanitarian and UNICEF Goodwill ambassador. After his death he was declared as “Honorable citizen of Macedonia” by the government while people from all around the world to this day come to visit his grave and memorial house located in Krushevo, a tiny Macedonian town where Toshe was born and raised.
- Macedonia was even 5 centuries long under Ottoman reign and still in 1913 managed to expel the Ottomans from their territory to then years later become part of Yugoslavia.
- One of the most remarkable buildings of Islamic architecture is the colorful Painted Mosque built in 1945 in Tetovo.
- Macedonia has its own “Mini Chinese” Wall known as the Devil’s Wall. Located near Sveti Nikole, this mysterious wall is 12 meters tall and 2 meters wide. There are many theories about the origin of this wall, but according to one of them this wall was built by the devil and brought down by God.
- The capital of Macedonia, Skopje is a home of a quarter of Macedonia’s entire population.
- Macedonia could be a real ‘paradise on Earth’ for poets as well! In fact, world’s largest yearly poetic event actually takes place every summer in Struga, small town in Macedonia located right on the shore of Ohrid Lake.
- Vechani, a small idyllic Macedonian village located near Struga, considers itself to be an independent country with its own passport and currency!
- Ohrid Lake is believed to be the oldest and one of the deepest lakes in entire Europe! And not only that- 200 species found in this lake could not be found in any other place in the world!
- Town of Ohrid and its Ohrid lake were listed on the list of World Heritage Site by UNESCO 39 years ago and one of the main reasons behind this is because Ohrid is a home of 365 churches and monasteries (so the people could honor a different saint every day of the years), the foundations of the first university in Europe (established by the scholars St. Clement and St Naum) and the throne of the first medieval Macedonian empire.
- And talking about empires- it is time to finally explain why Macedonia back in ancient time used to be the biggest empire that the world had ever seen… You may have already heard that one of the biggest emperors of all the times was the famous Alexander the Great, right?! Well, Alexander’s huge empire that people to this day are impressed by was actually the Kingdom of Macedonia or, today known just as, Macedonia.
