Roofing in North Macedonia

North Macedonia's historic roofs are those of Byzantine and medieval churches, especially around Lake Ohrid, and of the Ottoman mosques and town houses of Skopje, Bitola and Tetovo. Its modern building history was transformed by the 1963 Skopje earthquake.

Climate and hazards

The country is landlocked with a continental climate and mountain winters. Earthquakes are the critical roof hazard. On 26 July 1963 a magnitude 6.1 earthquake destroyed about 80% of Skopje and killed more than 1,070 people. A year later, international and national experts prepared the first Yugoslav code for construction in seismic regions (1964), and the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange won part of the 1965 competition to replan the city.

Roofing history

Late antique and Byzantine. Early basilicas at Ohrid date from the 4th to early 6th centuries. The town was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire between 990 and 1015, and most surviving churches were built by Byzantine and Bulgarian patrons, with the rest from the brief period of Serbian rule in the late Middle Ages. UNESCO dates the Church of St Sophia in Ohrid to the 11th century; it is cited as an example of the fashion for subsidiary domes on drums. A legend reported by the 17th-century traveller Evliya Çelebi held that Ohrid had 365 chapels.

Ottoman. The Mustafa Pasha Mosque in Skopje (1492) has a square plan and a dome about 16 m (52 ft) across. By the 16th century Ottoman domes were generally covered with lead.

Modern. Post-1963 reconstruction of Skopje produced an urban master plan in which Brutalism was prominent.

Traditional and vernacular roofs

Ohrid's 18th- and 19th-century houses are late Ottoman in style with local influences and stand on a very narrow street network; several houses are museums, including the Robevi family house.

Codes, standards and regulation

The 1964 Yugoslav seismic code was the starting point for modern seismic design.

Notable roofs

• Churches of Ohrid, part of the UNESCO site Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region (cultural listing 1980, extended to Albania in 2019)
• Mustafa Pasha Mosque, Skopje (1492)

Sources and gaps

Detailed descriptions of the roof coverings of historic buildings, information on vernacular roof materials, current roofing materials and modern practice, current national regulations and information on domestic roofing manufacturers were not found in published sources.