An annual exhibition was opened Wednesday at the Archeological Museum of Macedonia in which the most important artifacts unearthed during excavations are displayed at the end of the year for the public.

At the archeological exhibit, the ninth one in a row, nearly 700 items are presented out of over 20,000 artifacts discovered this year. It features coins, weapons, tools, ceramics, jewelry, etc, serving as a testimony of civilizations existing on the territory of Macedonia for thousands of years.

Archeological excavations, which are part of government-run projects, were conducted this year in 22 municipalities and on 60 archeological sites across Macedonia.

Under the project “Archeological Cadastre of the Republic of Macedonia”, intensive activities were carried out in ancient cities and fortresses. In the process, hundreds of silver and bronze coins from antiquity and middle ages were discovered alongside other archeological findings. About 50% of the archeological sites were discovered for the first time this year.

Opening the exhibition, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said excavations in the largest ancient building ever discovered in Macedonia – the theater in Skupi – prompted significant public interest.

“After intensive excavations in 2015, the largest ancient theater in Macedonia has been fully excavated and the stage building is being conserved,” PM Gruevski said adding that more than 8,000 archeological items had been discovered, including 3,000 coins chronologically ranging from the time of the first Roman Emperor Octavian Augustus to the Ottoman conqueror of Skopje, Mehmed II.

The exhibit, he said, offers a valuable collection of coins originating from Macedonian and Paeonian royal treasuries. “The discovered artifacts are considered invaluable items to reaffirm and promote Macedonia as a tourist destination.”

Minister of Culture Elizabeta Kanceska-Milevska said intensive measures had been taken to protect cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible heritage.

“These intensive excavations have helped create an extremely valuable fund of more than 500,000 items, artifacts that showcase the archeological panorama of our past, creative continuity and creative achievements of our ancestors,” she said adding that most of the items had been already presented at home as well as abroad.