Memorial House of Mother Teresa

The Memorial House of Mother Teresa

The Mother Teresa Memorial House is dedicated to the humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mother Teresa and is located in her hometown Skopje, in the Republic of Macedonia. The memorial house was built on the popular Macedonia street in the Centar municipality, on the very location of the once Sacred Heart of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, where Mother Teresa was baptized.^[1] It lies just east of the Ristiḱ Palace and the Macedonia Square. In the first three weeks, the memorial house was visited by 12,000 people. ^[2]

Opening

The memorial house worth two million euro was opened on 30 January 2009 by Macedonian prime minister Nikola Gruevski and is one of Skopje's newest landmarks. The opening was attended by foreign delegations, members of the Roman Catholic Church in Macedonia and Macedonian Orthodox Church. One week prior to the opening, the Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milošoski placed a commemmorative plate at Mother Teresa's grave in Calcutta, India, with the engravement "Token of Gratitude from the Republic of Macedonia and the Fellow-Citizens of Her Native Town Skopje".^[3]

Architecture

Monument of Mother Teresa next to the memorial house

The construction of the house began in May 2008. The project was financed by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and carried out by the Ministry of Culture. It is a modern, transformed version of Mother Teresa's birth house and has a multifunctional, but sacral character. Inside the house, part of her relics are preserved, which have been transferred to Skopje with support of the Roman Catholic Church of Skopje. A fact that has been made public by Nikola Gruevski first at the grand opening.^[4] There is a museum and sculptures of Mother Teresa and the members of her family in realistic appearance. One sculpture shows Mother Teresa as a ten-year old child, sitting on a stone and holding a pigeon in her hands. The house also gives opportunity for cultural manifestations and bears a gallery. The architect of the project is Vangel Božinovski.

References

1. ^ Macedonian Information Agency
2. ^ Večer Online newspaper
3. ^ Macedonian Government Web Site
4. ^ Večer Online newspaper

External links

• Official website of Memorial House of Mother Teresa (in English, Macedonian and Albanian)
• Macedonian Information Agency (in English)
• Macedonian Information Agency (in Macedonian)
• Vest newspaper (in Macedonian)
• Večer newspaper (in Macedonian)