SKOPJE by Sedat Arif

Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. As largest city in the country, it is a political, economic, and cultural center of Macedonia. It lies on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens.

The first impression of a visitor to Skopje is invariably the same: it is a new and modern city. It is a trading center for the cotton, tobacco, grains, and livestock produced in the surrounding region. The city also has manufacturing facilities for iron and steel, electrical machinery, chemicals, textiles, carpets, and foods.
Here is the seat of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Sts. Cyril and Methodius University, the Macedonian Parliament, the National and University Library, the Macedonian National Theater, the Archives of Macedonia, the Skopje Historical Archives, the University Hospitals and the Medical School, the Museum of Macedonia, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National History Museum, the National Art Gallery, the Culture Gallery, the Natural Sciences Museum of Macedonia, the Macedonian Tourist Information Center, the Macedonian Orthodox Church, as well as many foreign embassies and representative offices.

Although Skopje was settled as early as the pre-historic times, the first urban settlements in the Skopje area are from around the 4th century BC. Its citizens were a mixture of local residents of Paeonian and Dardanian origin. In Roman times the city of Scupi developed as an early Roman legionary camp on the western slope of Zlokukansko Kale, near Skopje.

It is assumed that it was the base of the 5th Macedonian and 4th Scythian legions. Colonists settled during the second half of the 1st century A.D., mainly ex-servicemen or veterans, as well as immigrants from the neighbouring city of Stobi, and even Asia Minor, Aegea, and Thrace. During the 2nd century Scupi acquired a particularly prestigious character, and a central place in it was occupied by its monumental theatre. Its troubles, however, began during the 3rd century. Taking advantage of the struggle for the imperial throne, first the Sarmatians and then the Goths and Heruls penetrated into Macedonia.

The 4th century was characterized by an increase in building activity in the city. This was the time when its most impressive building - the Basilica I - was erected. This was a public building, a court-house, in the southern part of the city. In the 4th century A.D., it served for a while as the capital of the Emperor Theodosius. Towards the end of that century or the beginning of the 5th an Early Christian basilica was erected in the city. However, it seems that it did not survive for long since the barbarian ravages were resumed in the 5th century, and it certainly did not survive the notorious earthquake of 518, heavily damaging the city of Scupi.

Scupi flourished under the reign of the Emperor Iustinian I. It is believed that Iustinian was born near Skopje, in about 483 at Tauresium (Taor). Although Iustinian is known for expanding and securing the Byzantine Empire, his most important work, however, is his codification of the laws. He says in the edict of promulgation of his laws that a state rests on arms and law ("De Justin. Cod. Confirmando", printed in front of the codex). The scattered decrees of his predecessors were collected in a well-ordered and complete codex, logically arranged.

In 535 Justinian passed a law by which he presented a city to his birthplace. He called it Justiniana Prima. Justinian's contemporary, the famous Procopius eternalized this city in his historical records where he said:"... The city, in the image of the Emperor, its creator and builder, the wise ruler, Justinian...". Underneath the idyllic surface and patriotic ecstasy, Justiniana Prima was a political move in the fundamental re-organization of the state "pestered by all sorts of barbarians". The city, a political centre, was also a protection for the new administrative unit known as Northern Illyricum. Its location is still a matter for exploration.

The Slav tribe Berziti settled here and also populated the western part of Macedonia all the way to Ohrid, Bitola, and Veles. In 1040, Samoil's grandson, Petar Deljan, led an uprising against Byzantium which liberated the city, but the uprising was crushed.

Another uprising, under Georgi Vojtek followed in 1072 and again the center of it was Skopje. This uprising, was also put down. Skopje was part of the Serbian state during its greatest expansion under the rule of Stefan Uros IV Dushan Nemanja (1331-1355). Emperor Stefan, after obtaining the approval of the patriarch of Trnovo (Bulgaria) and the archbishop of Ohrid (Macedonia), elevated the archbishop of Pec (Kosovo) to the rank of patriarch and - having them perform the ceremony of investiture - had himself crowned emperor in a solemn ceremony, at a synod in Skopje on Easter of 1346.

Dushan was followed by his young son Stefan Urosh V (1355 - 1371), who divided his power with the most powerful among the local noblemen. Skopje was part of Volkashin's dominion, which included northern and eastern Macedonia. Stefan Urosh V gave Volkashin the title of king and the rights of a co-ruler in 1365. Volkashin was succeeded by his son King Marko (Krale Marko). Marko's Monastery (also known as St. Dimitrija) and St. Andrew's church at Matka are witnesses of Marko's rule in the Skopje area.

Skopje was part of King Marko's state until the arrival of the Turks who seized it on January 19, 1392.

After five centuries, the Balkan Wars of 1912 forced the Turks out and Skopje fell under Serbian rule. After World War II, Skopje became the capital of the Republic of Macedonia.

In 1963, another catastrophic earthquake struck Skopje. The clock in the preserved ruins of the old railway station remained frozen at 5:17 am, the moment that the predawn earthquake turned Skopje into landfill. So devastating was the 1963 quake that some advised moving Macedonia's capital to another site. Thanks to world solidarity, the city was quickly renewed and reconstructed and the new residential quarters bear little resemblance of old Skopje.

Today Skopje is a beautiful and modern city with population of over half-million people (1991), covering an area of 1.818 sq. km. The city was rebuilt mainly out of concrete slab, clamping it to the Vardar river floodplain almost as a modular unit, in case the earth attempts to shake it loose again. Among the many international architects that participated in its reconstruction was the Japanese urban planner Kenzo Tanga, who gave the center a "city wall" of high-rise buildings, while the banks of the Vardar were laid out as pleasant tree-lined promenades. The ancient trading quarter (charshija) has been completely renovated in the notable features of its original architecture. Today, the city is still spreading in all directions and has a number of new developments.

The city and its vicinity have plenty of valuable cultural and historical monuments which attract the attention of every visitor. Kurshumli-An, located in the old section of Skopje is believed to be erected in 1550. This building later became a prison, where 578 Macedonian revolutionaries went through during 1898. The roof of this building was originally made of lead which was later taken out and used to produce bullets.

Skopje has many historical monuments including The Kale Fortress raised in the 6th century (its present appearance dates from the Turkish period), the Daut-Pasha's Amam (public bath, 15th c., now the Art Gallery), the Mustafa-pasha's mosque (15th c.), the Clock Tower (16th c), and the Stone Bridge over the Vardar river. The Stone Bridge gives access to the old part of the city where one can find many cultural and historical monuments. Built by the Turks on the site of a Roman bridge, the Stone Bridge has eleven arches and bears a plaque in the middle stating that it was restored by Sultan Murat II (first half of the 15th century).
St. Elijah (Sv. Ilija)
in the church of
The Holy Savior
(Sveti Spas), from 1867

The Church of the Holy Savior (Sveti Spas) is located near the Kale Fortress. It was believed that it was built in the 17th century, but the 1963 earthquake gave evidence that it actually dated from the 16th century. This suggests that today's church was built on the foundations of an older church which the Turks had destroyed. The 19th century iconostasis of the church of the Holy Savior is carved in walnut and combines a profusion of plant and animal motifs with the figures of saints in local costumes. This realistic high-relief carving is the work of skillful craftsmen of the Debar area, who included their own figures in one corner of the iconostasis. The iconostasis at the Church of the Holy Savior is 6 meters high and 10 meters long, and is one of the finest samples of traditional woodcarving which can be found on the territory of Macedonia along with the iconostasis of the St. John Bigorski Monastery. The tomb-sarcophagi of the Macedonian Revolutionary Goce Delchev is placed in the courtyard of the church. Goce Delchev died in 1903 in Banica, near Seres in Aegean Macedonia (now in Greece).

Skopje can be reached by train, car, or air. The Skopje Airport is the largest airport in Macedonia. The first train to arrive in Skopje departed from Salonica in the distant year of 1873.
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Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. As largest city in the country, it is a political, economic, and cultural center of Macedonia. It lies on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens.

The first impression of a visitor to Skopje is invariably the same: it is a new and modern city. It is a trading center for the cotton, tobacco, grains, and livestock produced in the surrounding region. The city also has... (read more)