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Warrior on Horseback

This article is about the sculpture in Skopje, North Macedonia. For the use of horses in warfare, see Horses in warfare.

Warrior on Horseback (Macedonian: Воин на коњ), also translated as Warrior on a Horse, is a monument in Macedonia Square in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. The monument consists of a 12-metre bronze statue, on top of a 10-metre pedestal including a fountain. The monument was installed as part of the Skopje 2014 infrastructure project.[1][2] It was sculpted by Valentina Stevanovska.[3]

Antonio Milošoski, then the foreign minister, told The Guardian in October 2010 that the statue depicted Alexander the Great and was an "up yours" to Greece, due to the two nations' disputes over the identity of the ancient Macedonians. In 2011, the government of Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski began to refer to the statue as of a generic warrior.[2] The statue was cast by the Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry in Florence in Italy,[4] and the cost of the entire monument was estimated by the BBC as being €5.3 million,[1] and the San Diego Union-Tribune as €9.4 million.[5] The statue was inaugurated on 8 September 2011 to mark 20 years since the 1991 Macedonian independence referendum.[5]

Professor Blaže Ristovski praised the monument as part of nation-building, while critics decried populism, nationalism, antiquization and a waste of money during a period of economic hardship.[2][1]

The Prespa Agreement in 2018 settled several issues in Greece–North Macedonia relations, including the Macedonia naming dispute. Per this agreement, a plaque was put by the monument to say that Alexander belonged to Hellenic civilisation.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Macedonia assembles giant statue amid row with Greece". BBC News. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c Smith, Helena (14 August 2011). "Macedonia statue: Alexander the Great or a warrior on a horse?". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  3. ^ Schenker, Harald (23 June 2011). "A Nameless Warrior and the End of a Shameless Period". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  4. ^ Jakov Marusic, Sinisa (14 June 2011). "Macedonia's Alexander the Great Statue Arrives in Skopje". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Macedonia erects giant warrior on a horse statue". San Diego Union-Tribune. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
  6. ^ Kampouris, Nick (16 August 2019). "North Macedonia Places Sign on Alexander the Great Statue Admitting He Was Greek". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 16 August 2025.