Skopje: the back story

About Skopje: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Skopje Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Skopje sits where the Vardar leaves the mountains, on the old road between the Danube and the Aegean. Every era has left its mark, and in one walk across the Stone Bridge you pass from the newest city to one of the oldest bazaars in the Balkans.

Scupi and the Romans

The Romans founded the colony of Scupi a few kilometres north-west of today’s centre in the 1st century AD. It grew into an important city with a theatre, baths and basilicas until an earthquake destroyed it in 518. The emperor Justinian was born nearby.

The Byzantine fortress

The town moved to the hill now crowned by Kale fortress. Over the centuries it was Byzantine, Bulgarian and Serbian, and in 1346 Stefan Dušan was crowned emperor here.

Few capitals change so much in the length of one bridge.

The Ottoman city

The Ottomans took Skopje in 1392 and ruled for more than five centuries. They built the Stone Bridge, mosques, hammams and caravanserais, and the Old Bazaar on the north bank became one of the great markets of the Balkans.

1963 and Kenzo Tange

At 5:17 on the morning of 26 July 1963, an earthquake destroyed much of the city and killed more than a thousand people. Help came from around the world, and the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange won the competition to plan the new centre. Brutalist landmarks from that rebuilding still define much of the city.

The 2010s city

In the 2010s, a major building programme gave the centre a new look: neoclassical and baroque-style façades, museums, bridges, fountains and many statues along the Vardar. Whatever your taste, it makes for an extraordinary walk.

Our advice: start on Macedonia Square, cross the Stone Bridge into the Old Bazaar, climb to Kale for the view, and visit the old railway station, its clock still stopped at 5:17. Take the cable car up Vodno for the panorama, and give half a day to Matka Canyon. Two or three days is ideal.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Skopje: the back story before you go.