Millennium Cross

[3] It was constructed to serve as a memorial for 2,000 years of Christianity in Macedonia and to honour biblical passages citing the evangelisation activities of St. Paul within the region.

[6] The monument is based on a grid design, similar to the French Eiffel Tower and has the traditional shape of a Christian cross without other additions or elements.

[3][9][10] The monument is visible from almost all areas of the capital and its presence is felt by strolling urban residents or people entering the city as it draws focal attention.

[1][9][5] Following the breakup of Yugoslavia and independence of Macedonia, different ethno-religious groups in the country competed with each other to leave their mark upon the urban landscape of Skopje, especially after the inter-ethnic conflict of 2001[11][6][10] As elections approached, Prime Minister Ljubčo Georgievski and his VMRO-DPMNE government raised the idea of constructing the Millennium Cross in his efforts to gain support.

[14] The top part of a hill on Vodno Mountain was publicly owned land and selected as the site for the monument in an area of Skopje populated mainly by ethnic Macedonians and half a mile distance from a military base.

[19] It was a prominent act of de-secularisation by the government as it placed itself in a role of promoting religion by installing a faith based symbol in an important public location.

[14] Separate to the Macedonians, all other ethnic groups in North Macedonia view the cross as an impediment toward managing cultural diversity and as a monument of fundamentalism that is provocative to non-Christians.

[14] Albanians and other Muslim groups of North Macedonia mostly resent the monument and view it as a political declaration by Macedonians that the capital city only belongs to them.