Ilinden Memorial AKA “Makedonium”, Kruševo, North Macedonia

Apparently built to impress Tito on his 1969 visit to Kruševo (and who wouldn’t be impressed), this monument gained significant social media attention during the pandemic for its striking resemblance to the coronavirus molecule. An unfortunate association for such an incredible structure. Designed by wife-and-husband team Iskra and Jordan Grabul, the monument commemorates both the 1903 uprising against the Ottoman Empire and the local fighters of the People's Liberation Struggle who fought against fascist occupation in WWII. As I navigated my way up the narrow and steep streets of Kruševo to get to the monument on the hill, I was thinking how disappointing that it was a cloudy morning. But once I developed the films and saw how the Rollei shots turned out, I was very happy.