SKOPJE - Mother Teresa's Hometown - Skopje is the hometown of the great humanitarian and Nobel Prize winner, Mother Theresa. Gonza, the third child in the Bojadziu family was born in the family home at pop Kocina street 13, in a Vlach neighborhood in the center of the city on 26 August, 1910. The Bojadziu family had a long tradition of success in crafts, fabric-dyeing and trade. Gonza was baptized in the Heart of Jesus Catholic Church and successfully completed elementary and high school years in church schools, where she was an active member of the drama section, the literary section, and the church chorus. At 12, she joined an Abbey, and at 18 she became a member of the Loreto Order of nuns. Mother Theresa, the mother of the poor of the world, always identified herself with her home town, saying “If it hadn’t been for Skopje, I would not have existed. I am a girl from Skopje”.


After her departure from Skopje in 1928, Mother Theresa returned to the city four times during her life: On 10 June 1970, she was a guest of the Red Cross and was especially interested in the rebuilding of Skopje after 1963’s catastrophic earthquake. On 27 March 1978 she was the guest of her home city and recaptured her childhood memories, visiting relatives and neighbors from her youth. On 27 and 28 June 1980 she arrived in Skopje as the Nobel Prize winner for Peace. She was welcomed by a large crowd and during this visit was proclaimed an honorary citizen of Skopje. In 19 September she visited Skopje and purchased a house, intended for the sisters of her Order, in Skopje’s central area, Kisela Voda. The Sisterhood of the Missionary of Love is located there today. Mother Theresa died on 5 September 1997, in Calcutta, India. She is buried there, at her own wish. In her home town, the memory of Skopje’s most famous citizen in the world continues to be revered, with a number of memorial places including:


Monument of Mother Theresa

At Macedonia Street, Nr.6 the Mother Theresa Monument is located, a work of art by Tome Serafimov. The monument was displayed to the public on 5 September 1999. The inscription reads: Mother Theresa, 1910 Skopje - 1997 Calcutta. The monument is located at the spot where the Heart of Jesus Church, where Gonza Bojadziu was baptized, stood until the 1963 earthquake.



Memorial Museum of Mother Theresa
A memorial room (museum) was opened in the Feudal Tower originating during the latter XVII and the beginning of the XVIII centuries, a building in which she used to play as a child. The museum has a significant selection of objects from Mother Theresa’s life in Skopje and relics from her later life. In the Memorial room there is a model of her family home, made by the artist Vojo Georgievski.
Next to the Memorial room, there is an area with the image of Mother Theresa and her prayer as well as a memorial park and a fountain.



Memorial plaque where Mother Theresa’s home stood

Just at the edge of Skopje’s city mall is the place where the house of Mother Theresa used to stand. The memorial plaque was dedicated in March of 1998 and it reads: “On this place was the house where Gondza Bojadziu - Mother Theresa - was born on 26 August 1910”. Her message to the world is also inscribed: “The world is not hungry for bread, but for love”

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