Skopje, North MacedoniaThe birthplace and memorial to Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu — Mother Teresa was born in Skopje in 1910; this memorial house built on the site of the church where she was baptized tells her story from Albanian Macedonian girl to Calcutta missionary to Nobel laureate. Free to enter; deeply moving.
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The largest Ottoman bazaar in the Balkans outside Istanbul — an intact 12th-century commercial quarter of hans, mosques, hammams, and artisan workshops still operating on the north bank of the Vardar. The Mustafa Pasha Mosque, the Daut Pasha Hammam, and the labyrinthine market lanes are genuinely extraordinary.
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The most divisive urban development in Europe — hundreds of neoclassical statues, triumphal arches, fountains, and government buildings built between 2010-2014 at a cost of €500 million. Whether you find it absurd, fascinating, or both, Skopje 2014 is utterly unique and provides extraordinary photo opportunities.