Ottoman Tower Houses In Macedonia

The object of this study is the establishment of the Skopje Ottoman Theatre in 1906, an event not even many people of Skopje know about. At the beginning of the 20th century, at a time when the power of the Ottoman government was weakening, Mahmut Sevket Pasa-governor of Skopje with a few select intellectuals, built a theatre. At that time, the theatre, its building, its design, as well as theatrical concepts, all represented a novel introduction of Westernisation to city life. Considering the rate of literacy of the period and believing that a theatre could be used as an effective means of communication for societal and cultural change, the bureaucratic elite initiated the foundation of the Ottoman theatre. The capacity of the theatre was 700 people. It was made with limited funds, so that there were no unnecessary decorations: it was a traditional wooden structure, representative of its time, yet also a modern building. There are no similar buildings of that category known to have been built in the Empire at that time. When the Skopje theatre started functioning in 1906, it hosted performances of various travelling groups and of schools in the area, as well as choir concerts and film viewings. Because the audience floor was level, the theatre was also used to hold balls and various spetial functions of foreign consulates. Plays by well-known Istanbul troupes such as Mınakyan, Seferiyan and Ahmet Fehmi, writers like Semsettin Sami Bey, and famous actor Burhaneddin  Bey were put on. The pupils of the Skopje High School performed Namık Kemal's "Fatherland", a play that had previously been banned for a long time.
With the support of the central Ottoman administration and with longterm vision, the Turks living in Macedonia created a theatre that allowed Turks, Macedonians and other peoples to come together and interact, without discrimination and regardlessof social and cultural status.