GEEO Southern Balkans Google Earth Presentation

— Stop 1 —

USA

Today, I’d like to share a great experience I had while traveling to Europe through a non-profit organization called GEEO. GEEO helps educators travel abroad so that they can learn more about different cultures to share with their students. I was joined on my trip by educators and retired teachers from all around the United States.

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Europe

We traveled across the Atlantic Ocean from North America to Europe. Europe and Asia share a long land border to the east, but Europe is conventionally understood as a separate continent—one of seven on Earth. The ancient Greeks are the ones who created the concept of continents as we think of them today.

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The Balkans

Our journey took us to a fascinating region of Europe called the Balkans, specifically to three countries: Albania, North Macedonia, and Kosovo. The Balkans is the easternmost of Europe’s three great southern peninsulas—the other two are the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and the Italian Peninsula.

The Balkan Peninsula gets its name from the Balkan Mountains in Bulgaria. The region typically includes Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia, as well as portions of Greece and Turkey.

The Balkans have an incredibly complex and rich history. For millennia, this region has been a crossroads where different civilizations, cultures, and empires have met and interacted. The Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantine Empire, and Ottoman Empire all left their mark here. This mixing of cultures over centuries has created the unique character of the Balkans today.

The Balkans is special because it is incredibly diverse. Over 20 different languages are spoken here. Three major religions—Christianity (both Eastern Orthodox and Catholic), Islam, and Judaism—have coexisted in the Balkans for centuries. Each country has its own distinct culture, traditions, and history, yet they also share many common influences.

The 20th century was brutal for the Balkans. The region experienced two Balkan Wars (1912-1913), both World Wars, and the Yugoslav Wars (1991-2001). Many of these countries are younger than your parents—Kosovo became independent in 2008, and North Macedonia just changed its name in 2019. You’ll still see bullet holes in buildings from the 1990s.

Today, the region is much more stable, with many countries joining or working toward European Union membership.

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Albania

My trip started in Albania, a small country about the size of Maryland with a population of roughly 3 million people. Albanians call their country “Shqipëria” (pronunciation) and refer to themselves as “shqiptarë” (pronunciation). The Albanian language is unique and unrelated to the languages of Albania’s neighbors.

Albania has a beautiful coastline along the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, with sandy beaches and lagoons. It is also one of the most mountainous countries in Europe. About 70% of Albania consists of mountains and hills. The rugged terrain has historically kept communities somewhat isolated from one another.

For nearly 500 years, from the 15th to the early 20th century, Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire. During this period, many Albanians converted to Islam, though Christian and other communities continued to exist.

Albania’s national hero is Gjergj Kastrioti (pronunciation), known as Skanderbeg (which means “Lord Alexander”). In the 15th century, Skanderbeg led a 25-year resistance against the Ottomans, becoming a symbol of Albanian independence and national identity. His double-headed eagle emblem became Albania’s national symbol and appears on the country’s flag.

Albania declared independence in 1912, but its borders were drawn by European powers, and about half of the ethnic Albanian population ended up living in neighboring countries. In the 20th century, Albania experienced a monarchy, Italian invasion during World War II, and then nearly 50 years of communist rule under Enver Hoxha (pronunciation), one of the most repressive and isolated communist regimes in the world.

When communism fell in 1991, Albania began transforming into a democracy and opening to the world. Today, Albania is working toward integration with Europe and has experienced significant economic and social changes.

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Tirana

Tirana is Albania’s capital and largest city, home to roughly one million people in the greater metropolitan area. (A metropolitan area is a major city plus its suburbs and nearby cities and towns that have significant economic and social ties. [Can you use your city or a nearby city as an example?])

Tirana sits in a valley surrounded by mountains, including Mount Dajti to the east. It was founded as a city by the Ottomans in 1614, though the area had been inhabited since ancient times. The city became Albania’s capital in 1920, shortly after independence. During the communist era, Tirana was a closed city with very limited contact with the outside world. Since the fall of communism, the city has transformed dramatically.

One of the most striking things about modern Tirana is its colorful buildings. In the early 2000s, the city’s mayor initiated a project to paint buildings in bright, vibrant colors—reds, oranges, yellows, greens, and blues. This was done partly to improve the city’s appearance but also to lift people’s spirits and symbolize Albania’s emergence from its gray communist past.

Because of its past, Tirana has a mix of Ottoman, Italian, communist-era, and modern architecture today. Skanderbeg Square, the central plaza, is named after Albania’s national hero and serves as the heart of the city.

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North Macedonia

From Albania, we crossed the border into North Macedonia. North Macedonia is a landlocked country, which means it is completely surrounded by other countries. It doesn’t have any coastline and doesn’t touch an ocean or sea.

North Macedonia has a population of about 2 million people. The capital and largest city is Skopje. The official languages are Macedonian and Albanian, as about 25% of the people living in North Macedonia are ethnic Albanian.

The country’s name has been a source of controversy. It was historically known as the Republic of Macedonia, but the country changed its name to the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019 to resolve a long-standing dispute with Greece, which has a northern region also called Macedonia. This name change was significant for the country’s path toward joining the European Union and NATO.

The ancient kingdom of Macedon (home of Alexander the Great) was centered in what is now northern Greece, though its territory extended into parts of modern North Macedonia. This shared history has been a source of both pride and dispute in the region.

The territory of modern North Macedonia has been inhabited since ancient times. It was part of the Roman Empire, then the Byzantine Empire, and later came under Ottoman rule for about 500 years.

In the 20th century, the region became part of Yugoslavia as the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. When Yugoslavia dissolved in the 1990s, North Macedonia became an independent country in 1991. Unlike some other former Yugoslav republics, North Macedonia achieved independence peacefully, though it faced internal ethnic tensions in the early 2000s.

Today, North Macedonia is working toward EU membership and developing its economy through tourism, agriculture, and trade.

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Ohrid

One of the highlights was visiting Ohrid in southwestern North Macedonia, perched on the shores of Lake Ohrid. The city has been continuously inhabited for over 2,500 years.

Ohrid’s old town has narrow cobblestone streets winding up the hillside, lined with traditional white houses and medieval churches. Locals joke there’s a church for every day of the year—365 of them. The most famous is the Church of St. John at Kaneo, which sits dramatically on a cliff jutting out over the bright turquoise water. It’s one of the most photographed spots in the Balkans.

Lake Ohrid is over one million years old—one of the oldest lakes in the world—and 940 feet deep. The water is so clear you can see 60 feet down. Over 200 species live here that exist nowhere else on Earth, including the Ohrid trout, which you’ll find on every restaurant menu. The lake also has unique freshwater sponges and snails that evolved in isolation for thousands of years.

For centuries, local women dove for freshwater pearls in the lake and crafted them into jewelry—a tradition that continues in small workshops today.

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Monastery of Saint Clement Ohrid

One of the sites we visited in Ohrid was the Monastery of Saint Clement of Ohrid. This monastery holds special significance in the history of Slavic Christianity and literacy.

Saint Clement of Ohrid was a medieval Bulgarian saint and scholar—and one of the students of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Saints Cyril and Methodius were two Byzantine brothers who created an alphabet specifically so Slavic-speaking people could read the Bible and other religious texts in their own language rather than in Greek or Latin. This alphabet eventually evolved into what we now call the Cyrillic alphabet, which is the alphabet used today in Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, and several other languages.

Saint Clement continued this work in Ohrid. At his monastery and school, he and his students trained over 3,500 people and created countless books and manuscripts in the Slavic language. This made Ohrid one of the most important centers of Slavic culture and Orthodox Christianity in all of medieval Europe. Think of it like this: if you wanted to learn to read and write in a Slavic language a thousand years ago, Ohrid was one of the best places in the world to do it!

The monastery we see today was built on the site of an earlier basilica. It’s an excellent example of medieval Macedonian religious architecture and contains beautiful frescoes (wall paintings) that tell Biblical stories.

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Lake Ohrid

Ohrid is on the shore of a huge lake called Lake Ohrid. It is an ancient lake that straddles the border between North Macedonia and Albania, with about two-thirds in North Macedonia and one-third in Albania.

Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world, estimated to be between 1.4 and 5 million years old. Most lakes in the world are only about 18,000 years old—they formed when glaciers melted at the end of the last Ice Age. Ancient lakes like Ohrid are extremely rare.

Lake Ohrid has persisted for millions of years because of sustained tectonic activity—think earthquakes. The lake sits in a tectonic basin called a graben, which is a valley created when the land between two fault lines sinks. This ongoing activity prevents the lake from filling with sediment and turning into a bog, which is what happens to most lakes after a few thousand years.

Lake Ohrid is also the deepest lake in the Balkans, reaching a maximum depth of 938 feet. To put that in perspective, it’s deeper than most skyscrapers are tall!

The lake’s waters are remarkably clear and pure, fed primarily by underwater springs. It is home to more than 200 endemic species—unique plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, only in this lake—including unusual snails, crustaceans, sponges, and several fish. Scientists sometimes call it “the Galapagos of Europe” because, like the Galapagos Islands, it’s a place where evolution has created unique species in isolation.

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Roman Amphitheatre

This is an ancient Greek theater built 2,200 years ago during the late Hellenistic period (the time after Alexander the Great, when Greek culture spread across many lands). The theater was built into a hillside between two hills, which act as natural wind barriers to protect the acoustics during performances. Pretty clever engineering for 2,200 years ago! The theater could seat several thousand spectators and featured beautiful marble decorations showing the god Dionysus and the Muses.

Originally, the theater was used for Greek plays, poetry readings, and musical performances. But when the Romans took control, they modified it for gladiator fights and other Roman spectacles. Unfortunately, the theater also became a site where Christians were executed during the Roman Empire.

After Christianity became the dominant religion in Ohrid, the local people were so upset by the theater’s dark history that they deliberately buried the entire structure, covering it with earth and essentially erasing it from view. For over 1,500 years, the theater remained hidden underground, and eventually people forgot it even existed.

The theater was rediscovered in the 1980s when construction workers building houses started finding large carved stone blocks. When archaeologists—scientists who study ancient civilizations—investigated, they realized they’d stumbled upon the lost ancient theater. Since then, the Ancient Theatre has returned to its original purpose—it’s once again a venue for performances. Today, it hosts the Ohrid Summer Festival every summer, where people sit in the same stone seats that ancient Greeks sat in 2,200 years ago, watching operas, ballets, and concerts under the stars.

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Bitola

We left Ohrid and traveled to Bitola, North Macedonia’s second-largest city. During Ottoman times, the city was known as Monastir and served as an administrative center—kind of like a regional capital where government officials were based. The city was once home to a mix of Turkish, Greek, Jewish, and Romanian communities. This made it very cosmopolitan, which means it had an international, multicultural character with people from different backgrounds living together.

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Sirok Sokak

The heart of Bitola is a street called Shirok Sokak, which means “Wide Street” in Macedonian. This is a long pedestrian boulevard—meaning no cars are allowed, only people walking—lined with beautiful neoclassical buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s, full of shops, cafes, and restaurants.

Shirok Sokak is where locals come to dress nicely and take a leisurely walk, especially in the evening. It’s a tradition in many Balkan and Mediterranean cities to stroll along the main street, meeting friends and enjoying coffee or ice cream. This social ritual is an important part of local culture and how people connect with their community.

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Stobi

Another stop on our journey was the archaeological site of Stobi, one of the most important ancient cities in North Macedonia. An archaeological site is a place where archaeologists have uncovered the remains of old cities and buildings. Stobi is located near where two rivers meet: the Crna (pronunciation) and the Vardar (pronunciation) rivers.

Stobi was originally a Paeonian city. The Paeonians were an ancient people who lived in this region before the Greeks and Romans arrived. The city was later conquered by Macedon, the kingdom ruled by Philip II and his son Alexander the Great. After the Romans took over this part of the world, Stobi became an important Roman city and was designated as a municipium, which gave its citizens certain legal rights and protections under Roman law.

Stobi sat at a strategic crossroads along an important Roman road called the Via Axia. This road connected the Adriatic coast—that’s the sea on the western side of the Balkans—all the way to Byzantium, which is the ancient name for Constantinople, and today is called Istanbul, Turkey. Because Stobi was located along this major road, it became an important center for both trade and military operations.

The city flourished during the Roman period and the early Byzantine period. However, a series of powerful earthquakes in the 5th and 6th centuries destroyed much of the city, and eventually people abandoned it altogether. Today, when you visit Stobi, you can walk through the remains of this ancient city and see some of the ruins:

• A Roman amphitheater and theater
• Large patrician houses—these were the homes of wealthy Roman citizens. “Patrician” means belonging to the upper class. These houses have beautiful floor mosaics, which are pictures made from thousands of tiny colored tiles arranged to create patterns and scenes from Greek mythology.
• Ancient city streets and the forum, which was the central marketplace
• A Christian baptistery and a Jewish synagogue

Walking through Stobi gives you a real sense of what daily life was like in a Roman provincial city nearly 2,000 years ago. You can see where people lived, shopped, worshipped, and gathered.

The region around Stobi also has a very long history of wine production. When archaeologists excavated ancient homes at Stobi, they found evidence of wine-making equipment, including grape presses. This shows that people have been making wine in this region for over 2,000 years! During our visit, we had the opportunity to tour a modern winery in the Stobi region and learn about wine-making. It was fascinating to connect the ancient wine-making traditions we’d seen at the archaeological site with the continuation of that craft today..

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Skopje

From Stobi, we continued to Skopje, the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. Skopje has an ancient history. It was known as Scupi during Roman times and has been inhabited for thousands of years. However, the city we see today is largely modern, and there’s a dramatic reason why. In 1963, a catastrophic earthquake struck Skopje, killing over 1,000 people and destroying about 80% of the city’s buildings. It was absolutely devastating.

The rebuilding of Skopje became an international project, with architects from around the world contributing designs to help rebuild the city. The result is a city with very diverse architecture, with Ottoman mosques and bazaars, modernist 1960s buildings, and new neoclassical structures and monuments. (Neoclassical is a style that imitates the ancient Greek and Roman buildings.) Walking through Skopje feels like walking through multiple different cities at once!

Skopje is also the birthplace of Mother Teresa, the Catholic nun who dedicated her life to serving the poorest people in Calcutta, India, and who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Although she left Skopje as a young woman and spent most of her life in India, she remains an important figure in the city. The Mother Teresa Memorial House, built on the site where her family’s house once stood, commemorates her life and work.

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Old Bazaar

The Old Bazaar in Skopje survived the earthquake and is one of the largest and best-preserved Ottoman bazaars in the Balkans. There are narrow winding streets, traditional shops selling crafts and goods, mosques, and hammams, which are Turkish baths.

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Fortress Kale

Overlooking the Old Bazaar is the Fortress of Skopje, known as Kale. “Kale” means “fortress” in Turkish. The fortress sits on a hill that has been fortified with walls and defensive structures since at least Roman times, though the walls we see today were built during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. From the fortress, you get panoramic views of the city, the Vardar River, and the mountains surrounding Skopje.

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Kosovo

From Skopje, we crossed another border into Kosovo, the youngest country in Europe. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, though not all countries recognize its sovereignty—its status as an independent country.

Kosovo is a small country with a population of under 2 million people. The majority—over 90%—are ethnic Albanians, and the official languages are Albanian and Serbian, though Albanian is predominantly spoken in most of the country.

Kosovo has an incredibly complex and often painful recent history. During the medieval period—roughly 1,000 years ago—Kosovo was part of the Serbian kingdom and holds special significance in Serbian history and culture. Many important Serbian Orthodox monasteries and cultural sites are located in Kosovo, and Serbians have deep historical connections to this land.

For several centuries after that, Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire, just like much of the Balkans. During this period, many Albanians migrated to Kosovo, and over time the population became majority Albanian.

In the 20th century, Kosovo became part of Yugoslavia, but tensions grew between the Albanian majority population and the Yugoslav government, which was dominated by Serbs. In 1989, Kosovo lost much of its autonomy—its right to govern itself—and this led to increasing oppression and resistance.

In 1998-1999, these tensions erupted into the Kosovo War. This was a brutal conflict between Yugoslav/Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army, a group fighting for Kosovo’s independence. The war resulted in terrible violence and ethnic cleansing, which means forcing people to leave their homes because of their ethnicity. Hundreds of thousands of people had to flee their homes.

NATO, which is a military alliance that includes the United States and many European countries, intervened with an air campaign to stop the violence. The war ended with Kosovo coming under United Nations administration, meaning the UN helped govern Kosovo while it rebuilt.

After years under UN protection, Kosovo declared independence in 2008. Over 100 countries have recognized Kosovo as an independent country, but Serbia and some other nations have not. This is why Kosovo’s status remains contested and why it’s such a sensitive topic.

Despite this difficult recent history, Kosovo today is working hard to build a peaceful, democratic, and prosperous future. The country is young and faces challenges, but there’s also a lot of optimism and energy. Many young Kosovars speak multiple languages, are connected to the wider world through technology, and are working toward building their country’s future. Kosovo is working toward eventual membership in the European Union and continuing its economic development.

— Stop 18 —

Prizren

Our first stop in Kosovo was Prizren, the country’s second-largest city and what many people call its cultural capital. Prizren is often considered the most beautiful city in Kosovo because of its well-preserved Ottoman-era old town, its stunning setting among the mountains, and the beautiful Bistrica River that flows right through the center of the city.

Prizren has a very long history. It was an important city during the Roman and Byzantine periods, when it was known as Prizdriana. During the medieval period, it was part of first the Serbian and then the Bulgarian empires. When the Ottomans took control, Prizren became a major center for trade, culture, and religion.

What’s particularly interesting is that the city was remarkably multicultural during the Ottoman period. Muslim, Orthodox Christian, and Catholic communities all lived side by side in the same city. You can still see this diversity in the city’s architecture today—there are mosques, churches, and the old bazaar all located close to each other.

— Stop 19 —

Old Stone Bridge

One of Prizren’s most iconic landmarks is the Old Stone Bridge. In Albanian, it’s called Ura e Gurit. This beautiful Ottoman-era bridge connects the old town to the hillside neighborhoods. The bridge dates back to at least the 15th century and has become a symbol of the city.

When you walk across the old stone bridge, you can look around and see the traditional houses with their distinctive architecture, the minarets of mosques—like the tall tower you can see here—and the fortress on the hill above.

— Stop 20 —

Prizren Fortress

Rising above Prizren on a hillside is the Prizren Fortress, where you can see the city, valley, and surrounding mountains.

The fortress has ancient origins. Archaeological evidence suggests that people fortified this site as early as over 3,000 years ago! However, the fortress was significantly built up during the Byzantine period in the 6th century and later expanded by Serbian kings in the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries.

The Ottomans captured the fortress in the 15th century and held it until 1912. During this long Ottoman period, the fortress served as a military garrison—a place where soldiers were stationed.

Today, much of the fortress is in ruins, but the remaining walls and towers are still impressive. The real attraction of visiting the fortress is the view. From up there, you can see the entire city spread out below, with its red-tiled roofs, the Bistrica River winding through the center, minarets rising into the skyline, and mountains in the distance.

— Stop 21 —

Pristina

Our final destination was Pristina, the capital and largest city of Kosovo. Pristina is a young, energetic city. While it has ancient roots—there was a Roman settlement nearby called Ulpiana—the Pristina we see today is largely modern.

During the 1990s and the Kosovo War, the city suffered significant damage. After the war ended, Pristina grew rapidly as people from rural areas moved to the capital seeking opportunities and jobs. The result is a city that’s still developing. You’ll see new buildings going up, busy streets filled with young people, and cafes packed with students and professionals.

While we were in Pristina, we saw a large brass statue of former U.S. President Bill Clinton, located on a street that’s actually named Bill Clinton Boulevard. This statue was erected in 2009 to honor Clinton’s role in ending the Kosovo War through NATO’s intervention. The statue and the naming of a major street after a foreign leader might seem unusual to us, but it reflects the deep gratitude many Kosovars feel toward the United States for its role in ending the conflict and supporting Kosovo’s path to independence. Whether one agrees with the politics or not, it’s a reminder of how international involvement shaped Kosovo’s recent history and how different countries can mean very different things to different people.

We also saw a monument to the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, one of the most significant battles in Balkan history. This medieval battle was fought between Serbian forces led by Prince Lazar and the invading Ottoman army led by Sultan Murad I. The battle resulted in an Ottoman victory, though both leaders died during the fighting. The Battle of Kosovo holds enormous symbolic importance in Serbian history and culture. It’s seen as a moment of heroic sacrifice and resistance, even in defeat.

— Stop 22 —

Gračanica Monastery

One of the most important religious sites we visited on our trip was the Gračanica Monastery, located just outside Pristina. This Serbian Orthodox monastery is one of the best examples of medieval Serbian church architecture and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. However, it’s listed as an “endangered” heritage site because there are concerns about its preservation and protection. Do you know what a UNESCO World Heritage Site is? It is a landmark or area designated by the United Nations for having cultural or historical significance. The program is intended to conserve sites for future generations.

The monastery was built in 1321 and dedicated to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. “Dormition” is a word that means “falling asleep,” and in Christian tradition it refers to the death and assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven.

The interior is covered with frescoes from the 14th century. Frescoes are paintings made directly on wet plaster walls—the paint soaks into the plaster and becomes part of the wall itself, which is why frescoes can last for hundreds of years. These frescoes depict scenes from the Bible, stories about the lives of saints, and even portraits of the Serbian royal family who built the monastery.

Gračanica remains an active monastery today, with a small community of Serbian Orthodox monks who live there.