According to Celestine Bohlen writing in the July 16, 2019 issue of The New York Times (“
Restoring an Ancient Church, and Perhaps a Nation’s Identity”), the frescoes in the church of St. George in Kurbinova, North Macedonia, internationally recognized as a monument of late Byzantine art but desperately in need of conservation, have fallen victim to the country’s desire to promote itself. In the government's efforts to link the country's history to Alexander the Great, money that could have gone to cultural heritage preservation-- including preservation of the church-- went to Skopje 2014, a very expensive building and branding program for the capital. Whether conservation work receives government funding is seldom based on a straightforward consideration of need.
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