The Alphabet Museum in North Macedonia has not yet resolved the ownership issue.
On the ground floor, the advertisements of the businesses are still visible. This is because the ground floor and part of the courtyard is privately owned.
Although the house was owned by the patriot Fehim Zavalani, his name does not appear anywhere in the cadastre of Manastir. The first registration of this property in the cadastre was made in 1932. Surprisingly, the house with an area of 266 m2 and a 500 m2 yard is owned by Jovanovic Kirkova Hrisulla, from Manastir.
In 1964, by inheritance decision in the cadastre of Manastir, it is written that Kirkova keeps half of this property, while the other half goes to two sons: Kirkova Jovanov Miroslav and Kirkova Jovanov Darko.
In 1972, a new division takes place and Darko gives his share to his brother, Miroslav.
In 1981 again by decision from the municipality and from the basic court it is written that Kirkovic Jovan Miroslav, who turns out to be the owner of this property, lives in Belgrade. So a Serb becomes the owner of the house of the Alphabet of the Albanian language.
In 1982, with contracts for sale and purchase from the Manastir basic court, it is noted that Kirkovic Jovanov Miroslav is the owner of 1/4 and the municipality of Manastir is the owner of 3/4 of the yard.
In 1986, through the basic court of Belgrade, Zizic Jovan was noted as the owner. In 2003, with the decision to transform the land, Zizic Jovan became the owner with 1/4 of the yard and the municipality of Manastir with ¾.
"Inside Story" was able to obtain the document from the Cadastre of Manastir that shows that even today the owner of the yard is Jovan Zizic.
In 2009, when this house also turned into a museum, with the new measurement of 988 m2, the ground floor was taken over by Millovshski Zlatko. As a result of the unresolved ownership issue, the museum's hands are tied.
"A quarter of the yard is private property, while three quarters belongs to the municipality of Bitola. I have requested that they throw it into our property and have it as an institution. The ground floor, the two shops, are not owned by the museum but are used by the museum, the Ministry of Culture gives us a fund of 1500 euros per month which pays as rent", said Zait Aliu, Director of the Alphabet Museum.
The many problems but also the lukewarm content have meant that the museum has no visitors, except on the day of the alphabet.
"Not only for November 22, we need to have visitors throughout the year, because a museum without visitors is like a dead museum. The museum is kept alive by visitors", said Zait Aliu.