Millennium Cross
The Millennium Cross (
Design structure
The monument is based on a grid design, similar to the French
History
Planning and construction of Millennium Cross
Following the
The construction of the Millennium Cross was funded by the Macedonian Orthodox Church, the Macedonian government and donations from
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View of the Millennium Cross from the center of Skopje
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Millennium Cross ropeway
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View of the cable car in the top
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View from Skopje City Mall
Millennium Cross Cable Car
The Millennium Cross Cable Car (
The cable car does not run on Mondays and the last Tuesday of the month.
Construction
The ropeway includes 28 regular gondolas for eight persons and two VIP gondolas for four people. The route is 1,750m long, with the ride lasting 6–8 minutes.
The ropeway construction was launched in May 2010 and cost 6.7 million
Public opinion and controversy
Following the 2001 conflict, the Millennium Cross for the VMRO-DPMNE government served as a political claim on Skopje in the form of a territorial marker "to serve as a reminder to whom the city belongs".[19] The Millennium Cross has become a symbol highlighting the Macedonian presence in Skopje through differentiation along with political and religious distinction.[9][11] For Macedonian nationalists of any political affiliation, the Millennium Cross is an important political and national symbol.[19] The construction of the cross was also an assertion of a 1000-year Macedonian autocephaly aimed against the Serbian Orthodox Church that did not recognise an independent Macedonian Orthodox Church.[2] The monument was constructed without any public consultation or taking into account sensitivities and differences, as the Millennium Cross promoted one religion.[19] It was a prominent act of de-secularisation by the government as it placed itself in a role of promoting religion by installing a faith based symbol in an important public location.[19]
The cross has come under criticism from non-governmental organisations regarding actions taken by the government that increased tensions among various religions in North Macedonia.[14] Separate to the Macedonians, all other ethnic groups in North Macedonia view the cross as an impediment toward managing cultural diversity and as a monument of fundamentalism that is provocative to non-Christians.[14] Albanians and other Muslim groups of North Macedonia mostly resent the monument and view it as a political declaration by Macedonians that the capital city only belongs to them.[1] In North Macedonia, Catholics and Muslims perceive the monument as aimed against their communities.[2] Debates over the monument in the context of multiculturalism and Muslim equality have deepened divisions among members of various faiths in North Macedonia.[14][20]
See also
- List of towers
References
- ^ a b c d e Ragaru, Nadege (2008). "The Political Uses and Social Lives of "National Heroes": Controversies over Skanderbeg's Statue in Skopje". Südosteuropa. 56 (4): 529. Archived from the original on 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
- ^ ISBN 9780295802077.
- ^ a b c Kosiński 2014, pp. 47, 78.
- ^ Vangeli 2010, pp. 90–91.
- ^ a b c d e f Vangeli 2010, p. 90.
- ^ a b c d e f g Koziura, Karolina (2014). "The struggle over memory hidden in the contemporary cityscape: the example of Skopje 2014, Macedonia" (PDF). Journal of Urban Ethnology: 108. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
- ^ Kosiński 2014, pp. 47–48, 78.
- ^ Kosiński 2014, pp. 48, 78.
- ^ ISBN 9780253038203.
- ^ ISBN 9781137439550.
- ^ ISBN 9781910781876.
- ^ Vangeli 2010, pp. 90, 92–93.
- ISBN 9783658129620.
- ^ ISBN 9789287165039.
- ^ Vest newspaper (in Macedonian) Archived April 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Kosiński 2014, pp. 48, 79.
- ^ a b MIA
- ^ Holzner, Mario; Schwarzhappel, Monika (October 2018). Infrastructure Investment in the Western Balkans: A First Analysis (PDF) (Report). Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. p. 5. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d Vangeli, Anastas (2010). "Religion, Nationalism and Counter-secularization: The Case of the Macedonian Orthodox Church". Identity Studies in the Caucasus and the Black Sea Region. 2: 91.
- ^ Kosiński, Wojciech (2014). "Miasto-świadek historii: dobro i zło, piękno i brzydota" (PDF). Przestrzeń I Forma. 2: 48, 78–79.