Skopje

People have lived in the Skopje valley since at least the fourth millennium BC. The Roman colony of Scupi was founded under Emperor Domitian in the late first century AD, largely for veterans of the Seventh Legion, a few kilometres from the present centre, and it became a seat of government of the province of Moesia Superior and later the seat of a diocese. An earthquake destroyed it in 518; it was rebuilt under Justinian, then sacked by Slavs at the end of the sixth century. In the Middle Ages the town passed between Bulgarian, Byzantine and Serbian rulers, and it briefly served as a capital of the Serbian Empire before the Ottomans took it in 1392.

Ottoman Üsküb lasted more than five centuries. Its central position in the empire's European provinces made it a trading town, and the Ottomans built the Stone Bridge, the Mustafa Pasha Mosque of 1492, the caravanserais, hammams and covered market of the Old Bazaar. Another earthquake struck in 1555. In 1689 Habsburg troops took the town, already weakened by cholera, and General Silvio Piccolomini set it on fire. The railway arrived in the 19th century, and the station south of the river began moving business to the other bank.

Serbia annexed the city in 1912; it became capital of the Vardar Banovina of Yugoslavia in 1931 and, after the Second World War, of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. On 26 July 1963 an earthquake destroyed some 80 per cent of the city and killed 1,070 people. Rebuilt with help from around the world, to plans by Adolf Ciborowski and Kenzo Tange, Skopje became a modernist city. Since independence in 1991 it has been the national capital, and the Skopje 2014 project of statues and neoclassical facades has divided opinion ever since.

Skopje is the cultural centre of the country, home to Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, the national library and a philharmonic orchestra. It is also a divided and mixed city. Macedonians, mostly Orthodox, are the majority and live mainly south of the Vardar in districts rebuilt after 1963; Albanians, mostly Muslim, form a large minority concentrated on the north bank around the Old Bazaar, alongside Turks and Roma. Šuto Orizari, on the northern edge, and Topaana are the main Roma neighbourhoods. Albanian residents felt left out of the Skopje 2014 monuments and raised projects of their own, including a new square near the bazaar.

Mother Teresa was born into the city's Roman Catholic Albanian community, and a memorial house now stands on the site of the church where she was baptised. The museums of the Old Bazaar and the riverbank, the jazz festival in October and the summer festival give the city a busy cultural calendar.

Football is followed through three main clubs, FK Vardar, FK Rabotnički and KF Shkupi, whose matches, like those of the national team, are played at the Toše Proeski Arena. Basketball is played at halls such as the Jane Sandanski arena.

The City of Skopje, made up of ten municipalities, had 526,502 inhabitants at the 2021 census — roughly a quarter of the country's people — and its job market draws on towns as far away as Veles, Kumanovo and Tetovo. It is the centre of government and business, producing a large share of the national economy, with offices, universities, hospitals, steelworks and special economic zones near the airport and the Okta refinery.

The city is clearly divided by the river. South of the Vardar, the mainly Macedonian districts of Centar, Karpoš and Aerodrom are made up of post-earthquake tower blocks, shopping centres and parks, while the older, poorer and more crowded districts north of the river, such as Čair, are mainly Albanian and Muslim. Unemployment has long been high, especially among the Roma community.

The great daily issue is the air. In winter, smoke from household heating, industry and traffic is trapped in the valley, and Skopje often records some of the worst air pollution in Europe; thousands marched against the smog in 2019. In summer life moves outdoors, to café terraces, the riverside promenades and the woods of Mount Vodno, reached by a cable car from the edge of the city.

Skopje eats like the rest of North Macedonia, with a strong Ottoman accent from the bazaar. The grill is central: kebapi and other grilled meats are served in the Old Bazaar and in the kafanas of Debar Maalo, taverns known for grilled dishes and lively evenings. Burek, a flaky filo pie stuffed with meat, cheese or spinach, is sold in small bakery cafés across the city.

Home cooking is built on beans, peppers and dairy. Tavče gravče, the national dish, is made with beans and baked and served in an unglazed earthenware pot; ajvar is a spread of roasted red peppers that can be sweet, piquant or very hot; šopska salad is often eaten as a starter with rakija; and pastrmajlija and zelnik, a layered pastry filled with cheese, eggs, leeks or meat, come from the bakeries. Bit Pazar, the city's largest food market, and the smaller Green Market are where the peppers, cheese and seasonal produce are bought.

To drink, there is rakija, mastika, considered the national drink, and wine from the Vranec grape. Turkish coffee is by far the most popular coffee.