North Macedonia

The country is small, poor and land-locked, with relatievly poor communications. As a result of its heritage, it is inhabited by many minority groups who all regard themselves as belonging to a Macedonia defined by territory rather than ethnicity. Nowadays, tourism is increasing, the borders are more porous as Greeks and Albanians cross for shopping. The EU is doing its best to develop cross-border cooperation programmes, but is still fighting against a harsh nationalism taught in schools.

Your walk though Macedonia will be dominated by Lake Ohrid, a glowing blue jewell surrounded by forest and mountains. Try to take a trip on the lake and see the churches of Ohrid from the vantage point of the lake. There is also the site of a pre-historic lakeside village, a reconstruction set on stilts which demonstrates what an important part the lake plays in the life of the people.

History

The ancient kingdom of Macedonia was probably mainy in the present-day territory of northern Greece. Dominated for a short while by the Persians, after they withdrew Macedonia’s history then became entangled with that of the Greek city states. Phillip II unified the kingdom and built up the army and made peace with te neighbouring tribes – the Illyrians of Albania, Thracians to the east and the Athenians to the South.

So by the time that Alexander III of Macedon came to the throne at a very young age, the kingdom was powerful and well-armed. Alexander pursued his father’s ambitions, pursuing the Persiands across Asia Minor as far as  Egypt, and then continuing on to the borders of India. After his death on the return journey, Antipater ruled as regent for Alexander’s son. Three wars against the Romans, the first two in alliance with Hannibal, led to complete defeat and Roman occupation, resulting in the division of Macedonia into four provinces and strict limits on its economic power. The Roman province of Macedonia, (established 146BC) consisting of parts of the Greek provinces of West,  Central and East Macedonia and Thrace, as well as current Macedonia, probably represented the country in its most stable form, with peace imposed from Rome via the great artery of the Via Egnatia.

The province was divided into North and South sections in the 3rd C AD, and became included in the Eastern Roman, later the Byzantine empire. During Byzantine times, the name Macedonia was applied to a province which consisted of South Bulgaria and northern Greece as well as preseent-day Macedonia, and a dynasty of this province ruled the Byzantine empire between the 9th and 11th centuries.  Later, preesent-day Macedonia became part of the kingdom of Bulgaria, with a religious centre at Ohrid, all pursuing a war against the Byzantines. In 1018, Macedonia was incorporated into the Byzantine empire and the Via Egnatia, which had been closed by the turmoil, again reopened. However, peace was shorlived as the crusaders, passing through to attack the holy land, and later conquering Constantople, caused the area to be split and siputed amongst Latins, Byzantines and the Bulgarians. Serbian expansionism interfered in this area and from the 13th C, formed an enlarged Serbian empire which lasted only a few years.

The Ottoman expanded eastwards into the Balkans from the 14th C onwards, adopting the Via Eurasia and te more northern Via Militaris as their chosen routes of expansion. For 500 years, Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire and the name of Macedonia gradually disappeared from their administrative system and from history. During this time, a substantial Turkish minority moved westwards and the cities saw the establishment of Jewish colonies fleeing persecution in Spain.

The nationalist revival of the 19th C saw the name was revived. The three neighbouring states of Bulgaia, Serbia and Greece contested for possession of Macedonia. Armed groups fought both each other and the Ottonman troops and were encouraged by western Powers. A treaty of 1878 gave most of Macedonia back to the Ottomans, but some to Bulgaria. This didn’t satisfy any of the countries involved, and umntil the 1st World war, as series of regional wars and disputes, religious as well as miltary, divided the Balkans.  as describing ethnic Macedonians who lived in what is now northern Greece, those who now live in Macedonia, who are sometimes called Slavic Macedonians, and Macedonian Bulgarians, confined to one eastern province of Bulgaria. Because of past occupations, the population exchange after the 1st World war and other movements, these Macedonians are mixed with Greeks, Bulgarians, Albanians and others. The religions practised inclıde Orthodox christianity, which is the most common one, with loyalty ot the Bulgarşan church, or Islam. A joint coalition against the Ottomans led to the Balkan Wars and the Ottoman frontiers were pushed back to Thrace and Edirne. Macedonia was the subject of both official and secret treaties and negotitions, but the result was that Macedonia was partitioned between Serbia and Greece. After the end of the 1st World war, an influx of Pontic and other Greeks from Asia Minor had to be found homes and land, complicating the situation still further. Macedonian Turks were mainly sent to the Turkish mainland, and the western parts of Macedonia became part of the Yugoslav Kingdom.

During the 2nd World War, Bulgaria, supported by Germany, extended her boundaries to include most of Macedonia and resistance movements sprang up. Italy invaded from the West, annexing parts to Albania. Greece was occupied by the Germans  The whole area was liberated by the Red Army; Bulgarian Macedonia returned to normality but Yugoslavian Macedonians underwent ethnic cleansing and the Greek part was affected bythe Greek çivil war.

The Serbian-occupied area became the Yugoslav Macedonian, part of the communist Republic of Yugoslavia,. The modern nation was founded only in 1991, after the collapse of communism in Yugoslavia and consists of only the former Slav areas. Many ethnic Macedonians are caught on the wrong side of the frontier in Bulgaria (about 250,000) and in Northerrn Greece (about 2,500,000). Fort his reason, Greece still regards Macedonia as part of its own inheritance and relations with the small land-locked state are very difficult.

Transport

Skopje has an airport with regular flights, but since it is in a low-lying area surrounded by mountains, in winter it is often closed by fog or mist. Regular bus serives run to Ohrid and other parts of the route.

Websites and maps

The official site of the Via Egnatia Foundation is a good place to start: https://www.viaegnatiafoundation.eu/. This site and the books produced by its founders have information on routes, accommodation and local history and geography for the whole of the Via Egnatia route.

The Geographer Michele Fasolo has mapped the original Via Egnatia in his books and articles.  Yannis Lolos is the recognised authority on the history of the route.

Other informative website area:

http://www.fuorivia.org/en/fuorivia-egnatia/ is the website of a group who are walking and documenting states of the Via Egnatia.

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/12/25/via-egnatia/