Sedmica by the Greek Embassy is closing. The location that has been part of Skopje's collective memory for almost four decades will no longer open its doors every morning. The brand carries on at two other locations in the city - but that first one, with the hamburger that has its own city-wide saying, is gone.

Sedmica opened in 1987. In an era when the identity of the city was built around a few simple things: going out for a beer, sitting on the kerb, and a slow dinner over a grill. The sandwich place became part of that ecosystem. It was never a luxury spot. It was simple and consistent. That is what made it legendary.

On social media a near-forgotten form of Skopje letter-writing started yesterday: people sharing memories. The last night before the school prom, a first date with someone, whole generations who passed from high school to university doing the same routine - park, walk in, order, eat at a short table. Those memories now also carry a particular feeling: that one little place decided to quietly leave.

It isn't only Sedmica that's closing. The whole of Skopje is changing. Over the years, the old centre has been losing the places that defined its spirit. First it was "Central" in the GTC. Then "Cafe Bouvar". Now Sedmica. Little cafés and sandwich shops that didn't do real business, but built the city's home feeling.

The owners say the brand will live on at the two other locations. The same hamburger. The same message. That's good for business. But for the identity of a place - it isn't the same. Sedmica by the Greek Embassy wasn't just a unit. It was the address of a layer of Skopje that changes more slowly than the buildings.

The question that lingers for the city: how many other places like it will we lose before we admit that "renovating" the centre also means breaking with the story?