The History of Skopje

Want to visit Skopje, but don't know the history of the city? Interested from where the city rose up? What great leaders ruled over the city? The origin of the name Skopje? All the wars and disasters the city survived made it the metropolis that is today. 

Walls in the ancient settlement of Scupi

The site of modern Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC. Remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the Skopje Fortress. This former settlement appears to have been founded by the Paionians. In the 3rd century BC, Skopje and the surrounding area was invaded by the Dardanians. Scupi, the ancient name for Skopje, came under Roman rule after Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus defeated Andriscus of Macedon in 148 BC. It was, at first, part of the Roman province of Macedonia, established in 146 BC. The northward expansion of the empire in the 1st century BC led to the creation of the province of Moesia during Augustus's rule, into which Scupi was incorporated. After the division of the province by Domitian in 86 AD, Scupi was elevated to colonial status, and became a seat of government within the new province of Moesia Superior. The district called Dardania (within Moesia Superior) was formed into a special province by Diocletian, with the capital at Naissus. From 395 AD, it passed into the hands of the Byzantine Empire. Scupi was probably a metropolitan see during the middle of the 5th century (Latin: Archidioecesis Scopiensis).

Pieta in frescoes found in the Church of St. Panteleimon, Gorno Nerezi

After becoming part of the Byzantine Empire, Scupi became an important regional trading and garrison. Byzantine Emperor Justinian (527–65 AD) was born in Tauresium, a town situated roughly 20 km southeast of present-day Skopje, in 483 AD. After Scupi was almost completely destroyed by an earthquake in 518 AD, Justinian built a new town at the fertile entry point of the River Lepenec into the Vardar. Some historians believe this might be the city of Justiniana Prima. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested by both the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire. From 972 to 992, it was the capital of the First Bulgarian Empire. After 1018, it was the capital of the Byzantine administrative region (katepanat) of Bulgaria after the fall the First Bulgarian Empire in 1018. Skopje was a thriving trading settlement but fell into decline after being hit by another earthquake at the end of the 11th century. In 1189, the town was briefly occupied by the Serbs.

Skopje was the capital of the estate of the Bulgarian feudal lord, later Emperor Konstantin Asen in the middle of 13th century. The Byzantine Empire took advantage of the decline in Skopje to regain influence in the area, but lost control of it once again in 1282 to King Stefan Uroš II Milutin of Serbia . Milutin's grandson, Stefan Dušan, made Skopje his capital. He later proclaimed himself Emperor of Serbs and Greeks in 1346, subsequently making Skopje capital of the Serbian Empire. After his sudden death in 1355, he was succeeded by Stephen Uruš V of Serbia who could not keep Serbian Empire together and it was fragmented in many small principalities. Vuk Branković was the last Serbian and Christian prince to rule Skopje during medieval period.

After conquering some parts of the Balkans, the Ottoman turks conquered Skopje in 1392 beginning 520 years of Ottoman rule. The Ottomans named the town Üsküb. At first, the Ottomans divided the greater Macedonian region into three vilayets: Kosovo (with Üsküb as capital), Manastir and Selanik. As the northernmost of these, Üsküb was strategically important for further expansion into central Europe. Under Ottoman rule, the town expanded further towards the confluence point of the Serava and Vardar rivers. The city soon had a large Muslim population and the architecture of the town changed accordingly. During the 15th century, many travelers'inns, such as Kapan An and Suli An, were established in the town. The city's famous Stone Bridge was also reconstructed during this period and the Daut Pasha baths was built at the end of the 15th century. Also at this time, numerous Sephardic Jews driven out of Spain settled in Üsküb, adding to the cultural mix of the town and enhancing the town's trading reputation.

The Mustapha Pasha Mosque, viewed from the Skopje Fortress

At the beginning of Ottoman rule, several mosques sprang up in the city, and church lands were often seized and given to ex-soldiers, while many churches themselves were converted over time into mosques. Üsküb was briefly occupied in 1689 by the Austrian General Piccolomini. He and his troops did not stay for long, however, as the town was quickly engulfed by the plague. On retreating from the town Piccolomini's troops set fire to Üsküb, perhaps in order to stamp out the plague, although some say this was done in order to avenge the 1683 Ottoman siege of Vienna. For the next two centuries Üsküb's prestige waned and by the 19th century its population had dwindled to a mere 10,000. In 1873, however, the completion of the Üsküb - Selanik (now Skopje - Thessaloniki) railway brought many more travelers and traders to the town, so that by the turn of the century Üsküb had regained its former numbers of around 30,000. Towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, Üsküb, along with other towns in Macedonia – Kruševo and Manastir (now Bitola) – became main hubs of rebellious movements against Ottoman rule. Üsküb was a key player in the Ilinden Uprising of August 1903 when the native population of the region declared the emergence of the Kruševo Republic. While the Kruševo Republic lasted only ten days before being quelled by the Ottomans, it was a sign of the beginning of the end for Ottoman rule. Some of the Ottomans were expelled from the city on 12 August 1912 by the local Albanian population when 15,000 Albanians marched on Üsküb.

Change of the City's name from Üsküb to Skoplje in 1912

The Ottoman army could not stand against the united front of Montenegro, Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria during the First Balkan War. When reinforcements to the Serbian Royal Army arrived some weeks later during the Battle of Kumanovo (50 km northeast of Skopje) it proved decisive in firmly driving out the Ottomans from all of Macedonia. In 1912, the Kingdom of Serbia occupied Skopje and the official name of the city was changed from the Turkish name Üsküb to the Serbian name Skoplje (Скопље). The Treaty of London of 1913 legitimated Serbian authority in contemporary Macedonia. Skopje remained under rule of the Kingdom of Serbia during the Second Balkan War of 1913 when the formerly united front started to fight amongst themselves. After the outbreak of World War I in 1915 the town was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria. By 1918 it became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and remained so until 1939, apart from a brief period of six months in 1920 when Skopje was controlled by the Yugoslav Communist Party. An ethnic Serb ruling elite dominated over the rest, initiating the repression, inconceivable by previous Ottoman rulers, aimed to destroy Macedonian nationalism. In 1931, in a move to formally decentralize the country, Skopje was named the capital of the Vardar Banovina of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In March 1941 when Yugoslavia entered the war, there were huge anti-war demonstrations in the streets of the town. Skopje came under German occupation on 7 April 1941 and was later occupied by Bulgarian forces. During the occupation, Bulgaria endowed Skopje with a national theatre, a library, a museum and for higher education the King Boris University. However, on 11 March 1943, Skopje's entire Jewish population of 3,286 was deported to the gas chambers of Treblinka concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. One month after the communists took power in Sofia and the Bulgarian army was sent to the west front to fight the Germans, Skopje was seized by the People’s Liberation Army of Macedonia , and then joined Yugoslavia in 1944, when it became the capital of the newly established People’s Republic of Macedonia.

Members of the US Army were sent to provide medical care to the victims.

From 1944 until 1991 Skopje was the capital of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. The city expanded and the population grew during this period from just over 150,000 in 1945 to almost 600,000 in the early 1990s. Continuing to be prone to natural disasters the city was flooded by the Vardar River in 1962 and then suffered considerable damage from a major earthquake  measuring 6.1 on the Richer Scale, which killed over 1,000 people and made another 120,000 homeless, and numerous cultural monuments were seriously damaged. A major international relief effort saw the city rebuilt quickly, though much of its old neo-classical charm was lost in the process. The new master plan of the city was created by the then leading Japanese architect Kenzo Tange . The ruins of the old Skopje train station which was destroyed in the earthquake remain today as a memorial to the victims along with an adjacent museum. Nearly all of the city's beautiful neo-classical 18th and 19th century buildings were destroyed in the earthquake, including the National Theater and many government buildings, as well as most of the Kale fortress . International financial aid poured into Skopje in order to help rebuild the city. As a result came the many modern (at the time) brutalist structures of the 1960s, that can still be seen today, such as the central post office building and the National Bank , as well as hundreds of now abandoned caravans and prefabricated mobile homes. Fortunately, though, as with previous earthquakes, much of the old Turkish Side of the town survived.

Skopje's Square

Skopje made the transition easily from the capital of the Socialist Federal Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the capital of today's Republic of Macedonia. Today, Skopje is seeing a makeover in buildings, streets and shops. The new government elected in July 2006 restored the Kale fortress and plans to rebuild the beautiful 19th century Army House, the Old National Theatre, and the Old National Bank of Macedonia – all destroyed in the 1963 earthquake. Other projects under construction are the "Macedonian Struggle" Museum, the Archeological Museum of Macedonia, National Archive of Macedonia, Constitutional Court, and a new Philharmonic Theater. The reconstruction of these buildings and also building monuments to the some most famous historic people of Macedonia are part of the project Skopje 2014, which should be completely over in the year of 2015. Also, the city's national stadium Philip II Arena and the city's Alexander the Great Airport are also being reconstructed and expanded.