The city of Skopje has made a decision to bid for the prestigious title European Capital of Culture for 2028
Cultural Institutions
Skopje with his historical name Scupi is the capital of the Republic of North Macedonia. Skopje with his cultural character and heavy heritage shaped over the centuries through the intertwining and permeation of various ethnicities and cultures. The city has been a centre of free thinking, bold ideas and radicalism throughout history and also is a hub of the culture, science, economy, politics and administration.
We see the title ECOC as the platform "ultimate goal" for gathering progressive social forces and Skopje to become a liveable European city. In this sense, all the application elements – conceptually, organizationally, financially, etc. – are designed to preserve the ECOC legacy, considering that political support is crucial in providing the financial resources needed to establish and maintain lasting positive change.
Miladinovci Brothers City Library
Founded in 1945; consists of 4 central libraries, 16 clones, digital library and a bibliobus; with more than a million books, publications, and other types of library materials);
Cultural Information Center
Founded in 1967. Consists of 2 concerts halls, every year, organises 200+ events: art and other exhibitions, concerts, theatre plays, chamber music performance spac, art studio etc.
Kocho Racin House of Culture
Founded in 1954; creates and promotes various cultural and educational programmes
Youth Cultural Center
Founded in 1972; consists of 2 galleries, 1 concert hall, NGO Center, Childre’s cultural centar, Planetarium, cinema hall, creates and promotes cultural creativity of the young; every year, organises 200+ cultural events.
Museum of the City of Skopje
Founded in 1948. In 1970 it was housed into an adapted part of the old Railway Station, object that has been protected as a cultural monument. Since then it functions as a complex museum that embodies the fields of archeology, history, ethnology, art history and the contemporary art in the region of the city of Skopje.
Universal Hall
Founded in 1966. An enduring symbol of international human solidarity, audience hall with the capacity of 1,500 seats for concerts, theatre and dance performances, and other cultural events
Children’s Cultural Center Karpos
Founded in 1948; space for cultural events for 500+ children aged 4–17 years old categorised in different sections.
Skopje Zoo
Founded in 1926, space that offers scientific, educational and recreational content for citizens of all ages, consists of 2 educational centers, 1 Baby ZOO and Dino Park
National and university library
“St. Clement of Ohrid”
Founded in 1944; Conference and study center, has a large fund of literature and collections from different periods.
Cinematheque of North Macedonia
Founded in 1976. National film archive, its purpose is collection, keeping, preservation, processing, research and presentation of films and film materials of a special artistic, cultural, scientific, historical and other significance, especially for national film heritage
Philharmonic of North Macedonia
Founded in 1944. The first and only symphonic orchestra in RNM and subsequently the only permanent representative of the symphonic opus on the Macedonian music scene
National Opera and Ballet
Founded in 1945. Preparation and performance of opera and ballet performances, concerts and other musical and stage projects
TANEC
National Ensemble for Macedonian Dances and Songs
Founded in 1949; Symbol of Macedonian folklore, tradition and culture, cultural ambassador
Drama Theater
Founded in 1946, awarded and recognized in Europe and beyond, annual attendance is more than 40.000 spectators
Comedy Theater
Founded in 2011, won several awards and recognitions, younger established institutions but according to the number of premieres and performance helds a rank high on the list of visited theatres
Macedonian National Theatre
Founded in 1945. Countless performances have been performed on domestic and international stage and countless awards and recognitions have been won
Theater for Children and Youth
Founded in 1990, only national theatre specialized in children and youth type of content, creats fairy tales with cheerful and magical spirit playing big role in the artistic and cultural education of the youngest
Albanian Theater
Founded in 1950, multinational and multicultural, countless performance in the state and abroad
Turkish Theater
Founded in 1949, in addition to the theatres in Turkey, the Turkish Theater from Skopje is the only professional theatre not only in the Balkans but also in the world
Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia
The construction of the Museum began in 1971 and officially opened for the public in 1976,main activities are collection, arrangement and storage of historical, ethnological and archaeological materials as well as their scientific research, presentation and education
Natular History Museum of North Macedonia
Was founded in 1926 for the purpose of exploring, preserving and presenting the natural resources of the Republic of North Macedonia. Its permanent displayes, presented on 1700m² of showroom, are based upon the principles of the contemporary museology. They show the gaia, the flora and the fauna of the R. of Macedonia. Institution for studing of biological diversity and their presentation as permanent and thematic exhibitions with more then 300.000 museum specimens.
Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje
in 1964 on the initiative of several renown artists, art historians,international associations and societies, museums and galleries from all over the world. The immediate occasion for this initijative was the earthquake thah in 1963 destoyed Skopje, which was followed by a worldwide action for renovation. One side of that action of international solidarity and its actual symbol was the collection fonnded in the Museum of Contemporary Art. The international colection, created by way of donations, includes the works of Picasso, Hartung, Vasarely, Calder....
National gallery of Macedonia
Founded in1948. Main activities of the institution are affirmation and presentation of Macedonian contemporary fine art, concerts, expert lectures, theatre performance, book promotions in their tree exbition facilities Small Station, Daut Pashin Amam and Cifte Amam
Film Center Vardar Film
Founded in1947. First film production institution in Macedonia, over a period of almost five decades – in the era of celluloid film, more than 40 feature films, about 360 documentaries, 28 short films and 43 animated films, unique achievements and now film classics were made under this logo
Memorial house of Mother Teresa
Opend on January 30, 2009. Location of the museum is not randomly chosen. That is to say, on this exact place the old Catholic Church “Sacred Heart of Jesus” used to stand. It is where Mother Teresa, then Gonxha Bojaxhiu was baptized just one day after her birth. Since the opening of the Memorial House in 2009 until today, the number of visitors ranges from 80000 to 100000 per year, including a number of presidents, ministers, ambassadors, church dignitaries, the niece of Mother Teresa – Age, Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Vatican secretary of state) and others
Museum of the Macedonian struggle for independence
Founded in2011. Main activities of the institution are research, collection, documentation, conservation, presentation, and publication of museum material from XIX and XX century
Archaeological Museum
Founded in 1924. Displays movable cultural heritage, more precisely over 7.000 valuable artefacts discovered through archaeological investigations throughout the entire territory of Macedonia, the artefacts exhibited are from Prehistoric Archaeology, Antiquity, Medieval Archaeology, Numismatics, Anthropology and the Lapidarium, in 2015, was among 15 best museums in Europe, winning seventh place, according to the European Museum Academy
Ensemble of Albanian folk dances and songs
Ensemble of Albanian folk dances and songs in the Republic of North Macedonia. Founded in 2018, as national institution for Albanian culture.
Orchestra for jazz music in Macedonia
Founded 2023. Expectations from the establishment of this institution is the creation of a high – quality Macedonian jazz production, preparation and public performance of high quality musical works from the field of jazz and all related genres that gravitate or a derived from this “classical” culture of the 21st century
