Depending on who you want to believe, this massive undertaking designed to commemorate the centenary of the country’s independence as well as to give the city a more ‘classical’ look and feel has so far cost the taxpayer anything from between €80 million and €560 million. Featuring dozens of statues, several new high profile buildings and a handful of new bridges and concrete ships, the crowning centrepiece is the vast Warrior on a Horse monument in Ploštad Makedonija, a statue that everybody knows is supposed to represent Alexander the Great but that few are admitting to. Although there’s no denying the fact that the city centre was fairly ugly before the project began, now it’s completely surreal. Whatever anyone thinks about the Skope 2014, it’s been a genuine PR success, and there is the occasional work of real art and genius amongst the accumulated kitsch and vulgarity.
