HISTORY DEPARTMENT |
The half century existence of the Historical Museum, now a History department of the Museum of Macedonia, started by collecting materials related to the period of the National Liberation War and continued with the period of national revolutionary movements. Gradually, the research and collection of materials started, and the complete history of the Macedonian people from the settlement of the Slavs on the territory of Macedonia until the creation of the Macedonian state within 1944 ASNOM assembly, which was the start of the after-war history, was covered.
Collections:
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VI TO XIV CENTURY MACEDONIA (SLAVONIC-BYZANTINE PERIOD)
 The most significant events in this period were covered, chronologically starting from the arrival of the Slavs, their acceptance of Christianity, the creation of the Slavic alphabet, the creation of the first Macedonian medieval state of emperor Samuil, rebellions against Byzantium, fall under Serbian rule and the establishment of individual feuds.
The collection has about 1,500 units. 200 of them are three-dimensional objects, such as: medieval coins of Byzantine and Serbian rulers, rings, swards, arrows and spears, different tools. It is important to mention the "wolfhound" sward, a rare object, and the copy of the Samuil's plate with an inscription from the end of X century, which is the oldest Cyrillic text in the Balkans.
The other units are photographs copied from different books, encyclopaedias, maps, portraits of educators, activists and persons of that period. |
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MACEDONIA UNDER OTTOMAN RULE
  The collection of objects from the Ottoman period is made of about 2,500 units. They date from XIV century, when the Ottomans came to the Balkans, to the beginning of XX century, that is, the 1903 Ilinden uprising. Most of them are photographs with portraits and drawings of Ottoman sultans, different objects, baths, dervish lodges, harems and some landscapes of those times.
The collection has more than 200 coins. The copper coins are the most interesting ones for the numismatists.
The most representative are the weapons and military equipment of the Ottoman army. This collection has about 200 pieces, both cold and fiery weapons (maces, nadžaks, swords, yataghans, small guns - kuburs, fitiljak guns, flintlocks and powder-charging guns). Military equipment is the clothes of the soldier, the mail shirts, special trousers, clasps, powder horns, cartridge-belts and enamluks.
The most interesting part with the Ottoman weapons is its processing and decoration. The decorations give the weapons special beauty. Besides the date of processing and parts of the Koran, the weapons was most often engraved with arabesques and vegetative ornaments, it was decorated with precious and semi-precious jewels, mother-of-pearls, ivory, encrusted with corals, gold and silver.
Daniela Nikolova |
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CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
The renaissance period started at the beginning of XIX century and continued until the creation of the first free Macedonian state, at the end of World War II. This period is one of the most significant ones in the history of the Macedonian people, because their national, ethnic and cultural independence starts. Parallelly with the fights for complete liberation from the several century long Ottoman rule, there are spiritual battles as well, to open schools in the Macedonian language, write and print the first church books in Macedonian, the first printing offices are opened. distinguished renaissance activists and teachers informed Europe of that time, that on the Balkans there was a nation with its own culture, language and customs and they asked that it is freed from the Ottoman feudal slavery, has autonomy and its state.
Valuable objects have been collected in the Museum of Macedonia, such as several thousand photographs documents, old books and personal belongings  of our renaissance activists: Kiril Pejčinovik, Teodosija Sinaitski, Kuzman Šapkarev, Rajko Žinzifov, Miladinovci brothers with their Collection, Gjorgjija Pulevski, Grigor Prličev and others belonging to the generation of renaissance activists of XIX century. The book "On Macedonian Affairs" of Krste Petkov Misirkov, a capital work that sets the foundations of the standard Macedonian language, Dimitrija Čupovski with the other members of the Petersburg colony in Russia, who made the first map of Macedonia in its ethnic borders and Kosta Racin with his poetry collection "White Dawns". |
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NATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT
 The collection of the Macedonian national revolutionary movement covers the period of the end of XIX century and the beginning of XX century, with a special stress on the Ilinden uprising of 2 August 1903.
The museum material of the Ilinden collection sheds a new light to the history of the Macedonian people and its battle for national freedom. The collection has: photographs of Macedonian revolutionaries, portraits, groups - units, postcards of Macedonian cities, weapons: guns of the types Martinka, Šišana, Karabin, Rašak, Čibuklija, Karanfilka, Roga, Džeferdan, etc; hand guns Nagant revolver, etc; kuburs, cold weapons: Crnopasec yataghan, etc, swords, knives and daggers which amaze with their perfection, arbijas for pressing powder in the guns and kuburs (metal), cartridge-belts, metal (brass) richly ornamented boxes that were used for storing the powder; oiling boxes, brass metal boxes where oil for the weapons was kept; canes, perfectly made by two parts - a woven, wooden, leather holster or with different beads and metal daggers; metal press used by Goce Delčev and his fellow fighters to forge Ottoman money (white medžidas) for buying weapons  for the rebels; moulds for casting bullets; rebel clothes; cherry wood cannon, the synonym for the start of the Ilinden uprising; chains used for the Macedonian revolutionaries; binoculars carried by the leaders and more significant revolutionaries; flags of units and craft guilds (original and reproductions); objects (glasses, watches, belts, decorative strings, daggers), which were personal property of well-known Macedonian revolutionaries (Gjorče Petrov, Jane Sandanski, etc); memorial plates of participants in the Ilinden uprising; seals and stamps of regional and district committees of Ohrid, Kumanovo, Bitola, Enidže Vardar; Tikveš, etc (originals and copies); albums of cities; portraits of groups and units of Macedonians of those times; objects (glass bottles embroidered with beads, belts, canes, decorative strings) made by the Macedonian  revolutionaries who were imprisoned in Thessalonica at Beas Kule and Asia Minor prisons; documents such as letters, cards and correspondence of well-known revolutionaries (Gjorče Petrov, Dimitar Berovski, etc); facsimiles of newspapers issued and edited by Macedonian intellectuals and revolutionaries (Petar Pop Arsov, Dame Griev, Dimo Hadžidimov, etc); memorial boards of Macedonian-Odrin revolutionaries; coded letters of the revolutionary organization; schemes and plans for organization of the Ilinden uprising.
Slavka Petrovska
Mirjana Nincovska MA, e-mail: mnincovska@yahoo.com
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MACEDONIA BETWEEN THE TWO WORLD WARS
The collection has photographs, documents and objects that speak of the time when Macedonia was divided between Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, and the awakening of the national awareness via the establishment of various societies: party, sports and cultural and educational ones. The participants were progressive young people and students who later, during World War II sacrificed their lives for liberation from fascism and creation of a state of the Macedonian people. Some of them were: Kole Nedelkovski, Kuzman Josifovski, Kosta Racin, Strašo Pindžur, Borko Taleski, Nikola Vapcarov, Lazo Trpovski, Boro Menkov and many other well-known and less known freedom fighters.
The historical department has a collection of around 160 original art works: paintings, sculptures and caricatures of distinguished Macedonian authors, such as Lazar Ličenoski, Dimitar Pandilovski, Ljubomir Belogaski, Tomo Vladimirski, Vangel Kodžoman, Borko Lazeski, Vangel Naumovski, Vaslie Popović-Cico, Rodoljub Anastasov and others.
The collection also has stamps, badges, old money, flags, etc. Ilija Curev e-mail: ilija.curev@gmail.com
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NATIONAL LIBERATION WAR IN MACEDONIA
The National Liberation War in Macedonia (1941-1944) coincides with the time of World War II, when the territory was occupied by Bulgarian and Italian military and state authorities, supported by Nazi Germany. The Macedonian people joined the fight against the occupier by organizing partisan units and they won their victory and created their own state.
  The museum material consists of: photo documentation of photographs of fighters who participated in the National Liberation War; military institution fund (partisan units, battalions, brigades, divisions and corpuses); political organization fund (national liberation boards, people's power, councils, congresses and assemblies); military operation fund (offensives); free territory fund; military equipment such as weapons, guns, revolvers, daggers, knives, bombs, cartridge cases, cartridge belts, helmets, uniforms, leather bags and boots; documents, such as military maps, testimonies, correspondence, gratitude; flags: reconstructed military formation colours; decorations: medals, badges and certificates of honour.
The collection also has photographs, objects, documents and testimonies from the Aegean part of Macedonia in the National Liberation War 1941-1944 and the civil war in Greece 1945-1949.
MArica Jovanosvka
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SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION OF MACEDONIA |
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PHYSICAL CULTURE AND ART COLLECTION
Dragan Georgiev
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