Skopje, capital of Macedonia

Friday, 17 July 2015 - 04:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General
Reading Time:  4 minutes

National Artgallery of Republic of Macedonia © Svilen Enev/GFDL

National Artgallery of Republic of Macedonia © Svilen Enev/GFDL

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country’s political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.

Skopje is located on the upper course of the Vardar River and is located on a major north-south Balkan route between Belgrade and Athens. It is a center for metal-processing, chemical, timber, textile, leather, and printing industries. Industrial development of the city has been accompanied by development of the trade, logistics, and banking sectors, as well as an emphasis on the fields of culture and sport. According to the last official count from 2002, Skopje has a population of 506,926 inhabitants.

Kale Fortress © Yemc Ss Cyril and Methodius University campus © BuildMk Monuments of Delcev and Gruev under Macedonian flag © Dvacet Memorial House of Mother Teresa © Desptop Skopje landmarks © Extratall National Artgallery of Republic of Macedonia © Svilen Enev/GFDL
<
>
National Artgallery of Republic of Macedonia © Svilen Enev/GFDL
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282 the town was part of the Serbian realm and its capital city since 1346. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912 the city was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital city of independent Macedonia.

Read more on City of Skopje, Skopje Alexander the Great Airport, Wikitravel Skopje and Wikipedia Skopje. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Theme Week La Palma - El Paso

Theme Week La Palma - El Paso

[caption id="attachment_241861" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Bonanza © Javier.RBarreto/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]El Paso, also known as Ciudad de El Paso, is a Spanish municipality locat...

[ read more ]

Shanghai, Paris of the East

Shanghai, Paris of the East

[caption id="attachment_24519" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Pudong © J. Patrick Fischer/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Shanghai is the largest city by population in the People's Republic of China and the largest city prop...

[ read more ]

The Mardi Gras

The Mardi Gras

[caption id="attachment_237777" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Infodog1213879821[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Mardi Gras is an Excellence-class cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. The ship is Carnival's lead vessel of the ...

[ read more ]

Salzburg, the festival city

Salzburg, the festival city

[caption id="attachment_146433" align="aligncenter" width="590"] City Centre Salzburger © Thomas Pintaric[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Salzburg, with nearly 150,000 inhabitants, is the fourth largest city in Austria. It is also the capi...

[ read more ]

Pleasanton in California

Pleasanton in California

[caption id="attachment_231577" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Michael C. Berch/cc-by-sa-2.5[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a subur...

[ read more ]

Theme Week South Tyrol - Schlanders

Theme Week South Tyrol - Schlanders

[caption id="attachment_247124" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Richard Pircher/cc-by-sa-2.0-de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Schlanders (Italian: Silandro) is a comune (municipality) and a village in South Tyrol in northern Italy, lo...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Libya - Misrata

Theme Week Libya - Misrata

[caption id="attachment_168424" align="aligncenter" width="584"] Misurata Fountain © vedi Fonte/cc-sa-1.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Misurata is a city in the Misrata District in northwestern Libya, situated 187 km (116 mi) to the eas...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Auvergne - Issoire

Theme Week Auvergne - Issoire

[caption id="attachment_236071" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Town Hall © Krzysztof Golik/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Issoire is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Issoire is located...

[ read more ]

Bitterfeld-Wolfen in the southeast of Saxony-Anhalt

Bitterfeld-Wolfen in the southeast of Saxony-Anhalt

[caption id="attachment_150397" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Villa Bernstein and Bernsteinsee (Lake Amber) © Katrin Perl[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Bitterfeld-Wolfen is a town in the district Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt. It i...

[ read more ]

Staten Island in New York City

Staten Island in New York City

[caption id="attachment_231923" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Conference House © Dmadeo/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Staten Island is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New...

[ read more ]

The Baltic seaside resort of Travemünde

The Baltic seaside resort of Travemünde

[caption id="attachment_152741" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Kurhaus Hotel © Asterion[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Travemünde is a borough of Lübeck, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortr...

[ read more ]

Breaux Bridge in Louisiana, Crawfish Capital of the World

Breaux Bridge in Louisiana, Crawfish Capital of the World

[caption id="attachment_246277" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Crawfish Boil © flickr.com - JoanDragonfly/cc-by-sa-2.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Breaux Bridge is a small city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, United States. The popu...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top