Shutka: The Roma Capital of the World

A “Must See” attraction in Skopje.
This is a tour of a different every day. The impressions will be huge. This tour is filled with smiling faces, loud locals, dogs, cats, sheep, goats, and horses everywhere on the streets. A vivid experience of Roma in the Macedonian everyday.

Eighty percent of Shuto Orizari’s population is Roma. The municipality is the only local administrative unit in the world to have adopted Romani as an official language. There are Roma members of the parliament and high-level officials serving in the government, although not as many as required by the quota system for civil service. Roma in Macedonia has a lifespan 10 years shorter than nearly 76 years of the average Macedonian.

The streets in Shutka named after Walt Disney, Che Guevara, and Garcia Lorca are bustling. At the center is a sprawling bazaar where vendors hawk tracksuits, sneakers, and home goods, mostly imported from Turkey and China.

Going to Shutka on this tour will bring you a different perspective on life. In this world full of excitement and consumption, some people need good weather and sun, but most of all, they need friends and to be together when life gets tough.