Let us evoke the city's past with its winding lanes filled with teahouses, mosques, craftspeople's shops, and even good day and nightlife.
Let us get pleasantly lost in the maze of narrow streets.
Not only was it actually the second biggest Ottoman bazaar of its kind in Europe in its heyday (after the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul), but it also encompasses galleries, mosques, museums, restaurants and bars, and all kinds of fun and interesting attractions. Skopje's çarsija is not like all the others. To understand the state of mind of the Macedonians, Albanians, Turks and all the others who make up Macedonia's rich ethnic composition, you must dive into it. It is literally a socio-political barometer, its transformations taking place in step with the changes in Macedonia at large.
The Old Bazaar is the oldest, most historically important and most atmospheric part of Skopje.
It’s very much the domain of locals and doesn’t have the same over-touristic feel as some marketplaces in the region.
Lost between these streets we shall give a tasting adventure for the ones who want to enjoy and mix food with cultural experience. Skopje is a town with many culinary delicacies. Most specialties are based on vegetables and meat, in many different shapes and forms, prepared in traditional and very unconventional ways. It is also worthy to mention that Skopje offers some of the best bready surprises, that you can try only here. For example the very popular "SIMIT". An interesting mixture of börek and bun, enriched with joghurt, it is a pretty unforgettable local tradition for breakfast.
If you've read something about the food in Macedonia, and especially about the Tetovo region, then you know already, that the best Balkan beans come from this area. And so come some specific meals made of beans, like the unique "Tavce Gravce". It presents a meal of beans, cooked in a traditional clay pan with peppers and spices in a stone oven, and combined with Kebapcinja it represents our most unique meal in the country. A symbol of our domestic cuisine.
The Green Market "Bit Pazar" abounds with many vegetables, fruits, olives, spices, cheese types, meat. Not only will we visit this great multicultural place, but we will also try many of the eco products offered by local farmers from the villages.
The oldest pastry shop of the Old Town is also a must see place. The owners are traditionally making sweets that connect the Macedonian, the Turkish, the Serbian and the Greek pastry tradition. With a brief break in the saloon of this shop we shall make a short break, before we have our very typical "Tursko Kafe" in an old Ottoman café. Our Moka coffee is also called Macedonian, or even Turkish coffee. Cooked on hot sand, in a copper coffee pot, it is really something very delicious.
Be my guest in Skopje and let's try this tasty adventure.
