If you walk through the centre of Skopje, you will inevitably notice the many statues and monuments. Other than perhaps in Rome, these were not set up centuries ago, but rather during the period 2010 to 2014.
They are part of the Skopje 2014 project initiated by the then ruling party VMRO-DPMNE, which included the construction of monuments with historical figures from the Macedonian region.
Not only the partly very high costs, which were financed by the state, but also the adoption of foreign history and the choices of some controversial personalities were criticized from various sides.
In the middle of Macedonia Square stands the probably most striking monument, the Warrior on a Horse. It is supposed to represent Alexander the Great, but is not officially named after him, and is one of the main symbols of the Skopje 2014 project.
The sculpture has a height of 14.5 meters and sits on a column, which itself is 10 meters in height. It was cast in Florence and then transported to Skopje. The cost of the monument is estimated to have been around 7.5 million euros.
