Cultural Route “On the Trail of Mother Teresa”

The project started in February 2019 and has just officially finalized in July 2021. The project partners, CHwB Kosovo as leader and the RECS Skopje as partner from North Macedonia had established a stakeholder group on the ‘Cultural Route Mother Teresa’ early on. The first cross-border workshop for the stakeholder group with the title “Identification of the Elements of the Cultural Route Mother Teresa” was held in June 2019, and the findings of the workshop were used by the project team for the implementation of the planned activities. During the workshop Msgr. Lush Gjergji, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Kosovo and authorised biographer of Mother Teresa, who was a crucial help to this project, quoted that he holds a profound belief that such project should be implemented upon harmony with each other and common respect for her figure as a Saint, such as it should be.

After the workshop, extensive research was carried out throughout the project to check historical facts, documents and all related information that could be used in all planned activities of the project, especially linked to the persona of Mother Teresa.

Known to the world as Mother Teresa, she was born under the name of Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, in Skopje on 26 August 1910. She and her family have traditionally travelled to this well-known place of worship every summer for the Feast of the Assumption. At the age of 12, on 15 August 1922, she heard for the first time the divine call from the Madonna at the church of Letnica. A few years after, at the age of 17, while on another pilgrimage to Letnica and in front of the same Madonna, she made the decision to take the vows and join the missionary sisterhood. Thus, she finally became Mother Teresa who built bridges between people and continents.

The project opened “The Trail of Mother Teresa” that follows the original path taken by Mother Teresa and her family from Skopje to Letnica for the annual festival of the Black Madonna which traditionally takes place on the Feast of the Assumption in mid-August.

The trail walked by Mother Teresa is the Primary Route and starts from the Memorial House of Mother Teresa in Skopje, where is also the memorial plaque of St. Mother Teresa (where her family home was), to continue and finish at the Church of the Assumption of Letnica, Vitina/Viti. Every step taken along the route is an opportunity for individual learning and experiencing the facts and stories about the years of her spiritual growth.

A Secondary Route was identified with special points of interest that represent locations related to the family of Mother Teresa, her origin, the origin of her parents as well as locations related to her childhood and youth in her hometown such as: the Bojaxhiu Neighbourhood (Mother Teresa Museum); the First Albanian School of Prizren; the Cathedral Of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, in Prizren; the Kulla House, the old family house of Drane Bojaxhiu, Novosello/Novosellë, Gjakovë/Djakovica; the Monastery of St. Panteleimon, Upper Nerezi, Karpoš; and the old Railway station of Skopje.

Improving the signage of the route required a series of interventions regarding the road signs and explanation panels that were designed and placed according to the cultural heritage regulations. Along all the route points, signs and interpretation panels were placed.

Restauration works were undertaken to some cultural heritage assets with the greatest potential to bring economic benefits to the local community. Five sites related to Mother Teresa’s early life were restored with environmental conscious traditional construction techniques and the engagement and training of local craftsmen. Those sites include the Museum of Mother Teresa in Prizren, the Monastery of St. Panteleimon, Upper Nerezi, Karpoš, the complex in front of the Church of the Assumption of Letnica and the Trail of Mother Teresa that include many minor interventions along the trail in both countries, such as improved accessibility with steps and the renovation of a water fountain. The mountain trail was opened using only manual labour, no motor vehicles, and only natural materials were used for minor interventions in the terrain. On very steep terrain, stairs were built-in using local wood and earth, while bridges of local wood were lifted over creeks.

All works were implemented with local traditional techniques and materials, with minimal damage to the environment. With respect to the main heritage asset, restoration work was done with original and old materials where applicable. Concrete and metal were used only to support the structure where it was considered indispensable.

Improving the accessibility of sites along the route was crucial and required careful planning aiming to ease access for tourists and pilgrims from the road to the surrounding area of the heritage asset, improving access from the surrounding/garden to the asset and access inside the asset. Special attention was given to wheelchair accessibility. This was fully achieved in the Museum of Mother Teresa in Prizren where apart from a complete restoration of the building, an elevator was also integrated to ensure accessibility for all.

A great importance was given to the inclusion of all relevant actors in project activities to improve their quality and ownership. Establishing and maintaining good cooperation from the beginning with the municipalities, the religious institutions as well as the CSOs was a crucial aspect towards building a working relationship in good faith and remaining open to future cooperation for the management of the assets and the overall sustainability of the route.

The main stakeholder groups targeted through the project and involved in all relevant phases were local communities (living around the cultural heritage sites are mostly unemployed and interested in emerging opportunities for jobs; some of them are already trained as guides and in fields of gastronomy and hospitality), tour operators (improvement of the infrastructure and interpretations of heritage sites is in great interest for local tour operators, in order to increase their tourism offers by having new cultural products) and institutions (they need capacity building in the interpretations of cultural heritage, and the geo references data in order to monitor their situation on the field).

While interventions were carried out, comprehensive research was conducted to draft the interpretation content (story telling) on the early life of Mother Teresa in relation to the cross-border mapped sites of cultural heritage and as a result, a brochure was drafted, designed, and printed containing brief information of the mapped sites and the life of Mother Teresa. Information panels and boards were placed at some points of the route as trail markings and signs.

A crucial aspect to the sustainability of the project will be the promotion of the Cultural Route.
Route passports along with stamps were designed, printed, and shared with several sites that will hold the responsibility to supply the pilgrims willing to undertake the route with passports. Pilgrims could stop in places of specific interest to rest and have their passports stamped along the route, offering a unique experience.