Kosturnica Monument

Veles is home to the wonderful monument called Kosturnica which was built in 1979 to commemorate the struggles of the Macedonian people and is the eternal home of about a hundred Veles citizens who were killed during the Second World War.

Renovated in 2014, this monument inherited from the socialist period (1979) is very impressive with its shape of a large white dome located on the outskirts of the city. It is an ossuary 10m high and 15m wide, led up by stairs of 178 steps.

It's a strange, concrete, cracked-egg-shaped structure. Created by two Serbs, architect Sava Sugotin and sculptor Ljubomir Denković, this dome is reminiscent of a German soldier's helmet from the Third Reich broken into four pieces. The Kosturnica Monument has a five-part art painting on the walls which shows the Macedonian aspirations for freedom and the battle the nation fought for it. There is a museum inside this building that displays documents telling the history of the town during that period.

Location: Veles