[ From the Media ]

The "reconstruction" wave in Macedonia continues: After a fantasy Church of Saint Clement ("9-15th centuries", as the plate reads) had replaced a 15th-century mosque in Ohrid in 2002 (cf.), it is now in the capital that the next projects are due. On Skopje's main square the "Oficirski Dom" and a Church of Constantine and Helena, both destroyed in the disastrous 1963 earthquake, are to be reconstructed. The latest news is now that also Macedonia's Muslim community would like to see the Ottoman-period Burmali Mosque (pic) rebuilt on the square instead of the "Oficirski dom" (pic), which had replaced it in 1925. They stress that this idea isn't new, but already 20 years old, and that to rebuild the mosque along with the church would strenghten democracy and demonstrate committment to a multi-ethnic Macedonia. (1; 2)