The Macedonian capital Skopje marks the 56th anniversary of the 1963 earthquake which killed more than a 1.000 people and leveled much of the city.

The quake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale hit at 5:17 in the morning, when most of the inhabitants were sleeping in their homes. Some 200.000 people were left homeless, sparking a massive effort to temporarily house them and then rebuild the city. Dozens of countries provided financial and material assistance, some of them building hospitals, schools and prefab housing.

Some of the iconic landmarks of Skopje were badly damaged and later demolished. These included the Macedonian National Theater building, the Officers Hall and the already badly neglected church of the Virgin Mary – protector of the city.

Japanese architect Kenzo Tange was commissioned to help redesign the city, and he came up with a modernist brutalist concept which is the modern city of Skopje, more than doubled in size and in population compared to 1963.