KURŠUMLI AN

One of the most beautiful monuments of culture in Skopje, Kuršumli An, hosts the lapidary of the Museum of Macedonia. The an was built in XVI century as the biggest trade an in Skopje and it included the Kazandzihlar mosque and Gjursiler (Kuri) amam, both of which have been demolished.

At the end of XIX century it was used as a political prison. In 1924, more than 700 stone monuments from the Republic of Macedonia and Kosovo were collected in it. In 1955 the lapidary was made in e horse stable of the an, but this facility was ruined in the 1963 earthquake and it has been closed for the public for years. In 2001, the Museum of Macedonia placed the most significant monuments of its collection on the ground floor of the main building of the an. The exhibition covers more than 130 monuments of different character. Each cell contains monuments from the same area and same period, starting from I century BC to IV century AD. This provides many aspects from the life the Roman province of Macedonia.