Macedonia

Macedonia, a small country located above Greece, is known for its stunning mountain ranges, crystal lakes and annual festivals of poetry, cinema and music.  A Macedonian au pair will tap into your child’s creative side while also being a great fit for active families.

Macedonia has an estimated population of 2,100,000 people. The largest ethnic group in the country are the Slavic-speaking ethnic Macedonians. The second largest group are the Albanians who dominated much of the western part of the country. The official languageof Macedonia is Macedonian, which is realted to the Eastern branch of the South Slavic language group. Macedonian is closely related to Bulgarian.

Macedonia has a rich heritage in art, architecture, poetry, and music.  Poetry, cinema, and music festivals are held every year. Macedonian music was widely influenced by Byzantine church music. Macedonia also has a number of preserved Byzantine fresco paintings, mainly from the period between the 11th and 16th centuries.

The most important cultural events in the country are the Ohrid Summer festival of classical music and drama, the Struga Poetry Evenings which gather poets from more than 50 countries in the world, International Camera Festival in Bitola, Open Youth Theatre and Skopje Jazz Festival in Skopje etc. The Macedonian Opera opened in 1947 with a performance of the Cavalleria rusticana under the direction of Branko Pomorisac. Every year, the May Opera Evenings are held in Skopje for around 20 nights. The first May Opera performance was that of Kiril Makedonski's Tsar Samuil in May 1972.