King Marko (around 1335 - May 17, 1395) - the last king who ruled most of Macedonia before the centuries-old rule of the Turkish sultans. At the same time, he is the most famous hero of the epic folk creation, not only the Macedonians, but also wider. The kingdom of Marko was centered in Macedonia, with Prilep as the capital and therefore considered a Macedonian king.

King Marko was one of the four sons of King Volkashin and his wife, Eurosim (Elena). In addition to the brothers Andreas, Ivanis and Dimitri, Marko also had sisters: Olivera, Milica, and in the oral traditions also mentioned Maria, Ugra, Kita, Star, Virgo, Vida, Ugra, Shain and Beda. Marko had two wives, Elena and Theodora, but it is unclear if he had a heir.

The monument of King Marko was placed on the city square in Prilep after the editing was damaged, so the monument was restored. The costs for the pedestal are covered by the municipal budget, and the author's idea is a government donation.

"King Marko on a horse" - a monument painted in bronze in Prilep with a broken leg on the horse. This was how the citizens of Prilep reacted excitedly to the composition of the parts of this grandiose sculpture.

The monument is built in the Panko plant in Skopje. The cost of casting and making the pedestal is covered by the municipal budget, and the author's design solution is a government donation.
The author, Skopje sculptor Vojdan Zapro worked for the visualization of the image of King Marko for a whole year, accomplishing numerous meetings with Prilep, where the myth of this historical character lives, but also consulted rich literature.

"For the elaboration of this work of these dimensions, a pattern in gypsum, which is then bronze, took about 4 to 5 months, I think, because it needed huge space, constructions, scaffolds to work a lot of clay, help from many others sculptors with which we worked together, "says author Zaprov.

The anthropologist and ethnologist, and president  of ACTAC - Aleksandar Cvetkoski, elaborates the shortcomings of the monument itself, speaks that the clothes, his weapon, and even his looks are not even close to the original character and the time of his life. Also the technique problems with the physical looks of the monument are totally wrong and even funny, which is not pleasant for a monument set anywhere, not to mention in the center of Prilep.

OTV Prilep

Reporter: Martina Biljarovska

Camera: Filip Stojanoski