A Short Stop in Nis, Skopje and Gevgelija

Thursday 28.07.83

Departure from Milan at 6:30 in the morning towards Venice. At Trieste our last refuelling in Italy and then the Yugoslav border. We stop before Ljubljana for a packed lunch. By 20:00 we're already in Belgrade but we can't find a free hotel, so we have to go on another 15 km; we have dinner at the hotel.

Friday 29.07.83

We leave at 7:30 from the outskirts of Belgrade, passing Nis, Skopje and Gevgelija.

NIS

is important above all because it's a crossroads between Greece and Bulgaria. The city is ancient, original, with the name Naissus from 180 AD. See another account about it.

SKOPJE

is the capital of Macedonia and is a modern city on the river Vardar. The old town lies to the north, with many minarets among the narrow, winding lanes. The new part, by contrast, rose after the disastrous 1963 earthquake, which caused a great many victims. The city, created by the Romans under the name Scupi, has a troubled history; indeed it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times by various peoples over the centuries. (Romans, Goths, several earthquakes, disputed between Byzantium and the Slavs, Bulgarians, Byzantium again, Turks and Bulgarians once more) Worth a visit are the central square (Plostad M. Tito) with the Roman bridge that links the old part with the new; Samoilova Ulica, the main street of the old town with Turkish buildings, the ancient Hamam of Daut Pasha from the Ottoman empire.

Of great interest is a rich iconostasis in the wooden bell tower of the church built by the Austrians. Also the mosque (Mustafa Pasha Mosque). In the surroundings, the monastery of Sv. Nikita is interesting for its beautiful frescoes.

GEVGELIJA: is a border town in the broad Vardar valley. The route is very scenic and the whole area is planted with cotton, so it's very interesting especially for those seeing this kind of crop for the first time. Nearby is Lake Dojran, popular with tourists.

We have lunch, still in Yugoslavia, with very good steaks but in a restaurant with threadbare tablecloths. We set off again on the motorway and even get a fine on the motorway for speeding of 30,000 lire. We cross the Greek border and continue to Evzoni, then Thessaloniki, Katerini, Larissa, Volos and Lamia. We find a hotel in Lamia. During the day we suffered a lot from the heat.