The current railway station of Скопје is not the first of the capital city of North Macedonia. If you’re leaving the modern city center on Macedonia street and walk to the south, you’ll find the location of the very first railway station. It existed there from 1873 to 1937, then it was torn down and in 1940 a new building was opened there. And that is what you see today, or at least a part of it: two thirds of the station were destroyed in 1963.
The clock on the facade still today shows 05:17, the point in time when on July 26th, 1963, not only most parts of the railway station became unusable. The world recorded a massive earthquake on that day with its epicenter close to Скопје. 75 % of all people of the city lost their homes, more than 1,000 people lost their life. The international community reacted and immediately sent help to this part of the former Yugoslavia.
Today this part of the railway station houses the city museum which contains an exhibition about the earthquake (including a soup kitchen from the German Red Cross) and some archaeological artifacts. There must have been more to this museum in the past, but a lot of areas are currently closed. At least it is very interesting to learn about the 1963 earthquake at a historic building of that time.
City museum
Скопје / Skopje
North Macedonia
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