The Saraj ( mk, ) is a historic neoclassical estate in Resen,

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

. It was built in the late 19th century by the local Ottoman

bey Bey ( ota, بك, beğ, script=Arab, tr, bey, az, bəy, tk, beg, uz, бек, kz, би/бек, tt-Cyrl, бәк, translit=bäk, cjs, пий/пек, sq, beu/bej, sh, beg, fa, بیگ, beyg/, tg, бек, ar, بك, bak, gr, μπέης) is ...

Ahmed Niyazi Bey Ahmed Niyazi Bey (1873 – 1913) ( tr, Resneli Niyazi Bey, Ahmet Niyazi Bey; sq, Ahmet Njazi Bej Resnja; "Ahmet Niyazi Bey from Resen") was an Ottoman revolutionary, who was the bey of the Resne (now Resen, North Macedonia) area in the late 19 ...

. The Saraj's architectural style makes it unique in North Macedonia. The name "Saraj" comes from the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

word ''saray'' meaning "palace". The building is now home to a museum, a ceramic colony, a gallery, and a library. The local population of Resen municipality refers to the building as "Saraj".

Description

The Saraj was built in the neoclassical architectural style. The building is symmetrical with a taller central portion, which rises 35 m (114 ft), and two wings. It has a basement, a main floor, a second floor, and an attic, and has a floor area of 7,800 m² (83,958 ft²). The building's exterior walls are to thick. They contain rich sculptural detail, particularly on the façade. The roof was originally made of wood but, during renovation in 1982, it was replaced with steel profiles.

History

Ahmed Niyazi Bey, a progressive and likely a member of the

Young Turk Revolution The Young Turk Revolution (July 1908) was a constitutionalist revolution in the Ottoman Empire. The Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), an organization of the Young Turks movement, forced Sultan Abdul Hamid II to restore the Ottoman Constit ...

, was the bey of the Resen area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The bey desired to have a French-style estate, perhaps after receiving a postcard of

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

. Construction of the Saraj began in 1905 and the exterior of the building was completed in 1909 after the Young Turk Revolution. Everything else, including the interior, was not completed until a few years after the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and defe ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1922. Ahmed Niyazi Bey, however, died in 1912 in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

of unknown causes and therefore never lived to see his estate completed. After the Balkan Wars, the Saraj served several different functions for several different organisations. It was first used for local administrative purposes under the

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

, then under the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the building was used by occupying forces. After the war, it was used as the city hall of Resen and, later, as a city library. Finally, the Saraj became a museum and gallery, which it remains today. The building's roof has been restored twice since its construction: once in 1982 and again in 2005.

Current use

The Saraj today houses the Dragi Tozija House of Culture, the Resen Ceramic Colony, the Keraca Visulčeva Gallery, and a library. The Dragi Tozija House of Culture is a branch of the

Museum of Macedonia The Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Музеј на Република Северна Македонија, translit=Muzej na Republika Severna Makedonija), formerly and still unofficially known as the Museum of Macedonia ( mk, М� ...

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; r ...

. The house of culture is also home to plays, literary readings, and other cultural events. The Resen Ceramic Colony, also situated in the Saraj, is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. A permanent gallery containing many of the works of painter Keraca Visulčeva is also found in the building. A city library has existed in the Saraj since the 1940s. Today, it contains over 31,000 books.

References

{{reflist Resen Municipality Neoclassical architecture