Memorial house of Mother Teresa

The desire to pay respect to Skopje’s most famous person and the only Nobel Peace Prize winner from Macedonia culminated in the realization of a long-standing vision – building a Memorial House for Mother Teresa. Accordingly, the foundation stone of the Memorial House was laid on May 9, 2008. The building, dedicated to the most humane woman in the world, was completed in just nine months. For visitors, the Memorial House was open on January 30, 2009.

The location of the museum is not randomly chosen. That is to say, on this exact place the old Catholic Church “Sacred Heart of Jesus” used to stand. It is where Mother Teresa, then Gonxha Bojaxhiu was baptized just one day after her birth.

Since the opening of the Memorial House in 2009 until today, the number of visitors ranges from 80000 to 100000 per year, including a number of presidents, ministers, ambassadors, church dignitaries, the niece of Mother Teresa – Age, Cardinal Pietro Parolin (Vatican secretary of state) and others.

The exhibit area in the Memorial House of Mother Teresa was conceived so as to look like an urban house from the early 20th century.

The exhibit itself begins with photographs of old Skopje from the early 20th century, when Macedonia was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The aim is to recapture the spirit of this part of the Balkans as a crossroads between the oriental East and the Christian West. This mixture of cultures was woven into every thread of daily life and is best illustrated through the display of furniture and clothes, and the handiwork of silversmiths and goldsmiths.

The aim of the exhibit is to follow the life of Mother Teresa from her childhood spent in her native Skopje through the years spent as a Missionary of Charity, all the way until her death and beatification.

The most important items in this museum are the signature white sari with blue stripes (second class relic), the official habit of the Missionaries of Charity, copy of the Baptism certificate from the Catholic Church Sacred Heart of Jesus, authorized copies of documents with her handwriting and her awards.

Among the documents on display is the prayer book written by Mother Teresa, a copy of the Nobel Peace Prize received in 1979 and a copy of the letter sent to the Mayor of Skopje, Metodi Antov, on the occasion of her receiving the prize.

The exhibit boasts numerous photographs which vividly capture the humanitarian work of the sisters of Mother Teresa’s order.

Photography By kallerna – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link