National Gallery of North Macedonia, Art museum in Old Bazaar, Skopje, North Macedonia
The National Gallery of North Macedonia is an art museum housed in the Daut Pasha Hammam, a converted Turkish bathhouse in Skopje's Old Bazaar. The building contains multiple rooms displaying paintings, sculptures, and visual artworks, with additional exhibition space located in the nearby Chifte Hammam building.
The institution was founded in 1948 to collect and preserve artworks from the region, including pieces dating from the 14th century onwards. The choice to use the historic bathhouse as exhibition space connected artistic documentation with the protection of Ottoman-era architecture.
The gallery displays religious icons and works by contemporary artists from Macedonia and the former Yugoslavia, showing artistic traditions of the region. These collections reflect the creative expressions that developed across different periods and communities that visitors can explore.
The collection is spread across two nearby buildings, so visitors need to move between both locations to see the full exhibitions. It helps to allow extra time for both sites and wear comfortable shoes since the Old Bazaar area has historic cobblestone streets.
The Daut Pasha Hammam was originally designed as a bathhouse with separate areas for men and women in the 15th century, and some of this original structure remains visible beneath the exhibition spaces. Visitors can sometimes see the underground heating channels and massive stone vaults that are remnants of the building's former bathing function.
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