Arheo Park Brazda

The Site

Brazda lies 10 km north from the center of Skopje in the south-west foothill of the Skopska Crna Gora mountain. South-west of the village, a separated hill “Gradište” rises high above the surrounding area. The northern and the western slopes are very steep, and on the south and east side the terrain steeply descends downwards. At the northern foot of the hill the rivers Brazda and Gluška (Čučerska) meet.

These waters were captivated in roman times and supplied the ancient city Skupi and medieval Skopje with drinking water.

The Project

All students of archaeology, have their first encounter with the archaeological site “Gradište” v. Brazda, during their studies. So it was in our case. The first time we looked at this site, at the same time we felt a moment of admiration but also, sorrow. There it stood, just before us, a monumental royal tomb from the V century BC. A wonderful building with massive stone blocks, but unfortunately the whole place was overgrown with wild vegetation and covered with garbage. Then the idea to turn this place into a tourist attraction was born.

Finally in 2012 the association in partnership with the Museum of Macedonia and supported by ELEM through its social responsibility program, started working on the field in order to change the image of this important cultural heritage .

To this end, the team from Archaeologica took over several actions for arranging the site and its surroundings.

With the realization of this project, we influenced the archaeological and the wider cultural community as well as the local people about the importance and significance for the protection of cultural heritage and its exploitation for purposes of economic development and promotion of the local community.

Archaeological Park Brazda has become a new tourist attraction in the vicinity of the capital, and at the same time will continuously contribute to the development of the cultural tourism in the rural areas.

The plateau in front of the tomb was cleared and leveled.

We provided an approach to the tomb an built an access path with two bridges.

We built a small square on which we placed wooden benches.

We organized a voluntary action to clear the riverbeds of garbage.

The landscape around the park was horticultural engrafted.

The tomb and the hall were completely cleaned from wild vegetation and debris.

We placed an informational board and signposts.

We printed and distributed informative flyers.

The opening of the Arheo Park was covered by media.

We developed a web site about the park

The remains of a fortified early antique settlement (5th-4th century B.C.) can be found on the southern and western slope of the flattened top of Gradište hill, it is deployed in several terraces, on the surface of 4.5 Ha. It was a time when the most northern Paionian tribe Agrians lived in the region, but the type and nature of the excavated ceramic findings triggered a theory that Gradište was populated by Athenians who explored the rich natural resources of the environment.

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The team That Has Implemented This Project

Since 2016 the Institute for Archaeological Research – Skopje has taken the care for the Arheo Park in collaboration with N.I. Archaeological Museum of Macedonia and with the support from the Ministry of Culture of R. Macedonia.

The whole concept for the park is not completed yet, the association IARS has a plan to enrich the Archaeological park with additional content. With the full implementation of the project we will get a unique archaeological park by all standards.