Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia (formerly Macedonia). Its size and location on the banks of the Vardar River at the intersection of two main trade routes make it the political, economic, and cultural center of the country. Although the site has been settled since 3500 BCE, the city has a very modern appearance because it was rebuilt three times: once following an earthquake in 518, once in 1689 after a razing, and again in 1963 after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake that killed more than one thousand people.

Landscape

Skopje is located on the Balkan Peninsula at a highly elevated point of the Vardar River; two major trade routes connect the city to Belgrade, Serbia, and Athens, Greece. In addition, Skopje is the geographical midpoint between Tirana and Sofia, the capitals of neighboring Albania and Bulgaria.

The city's metropolitan area occupies an area of 1,854 square kilometers (715 square miles). The city proper is 571 square kilometers (220 square miles) and sits 240 meters (790 feet) above sea level. The city is surrounded by the Balkan Mountain range and connected to suburbs and other cities by the Vardar River.

The climate in Skopje is temperate and characterized by a mixture of Mediterranean, continental, and mountainous conditions. Temperatures during the winter are moderately cold, with an average low temperature of –4 degrees Celsius (25 degrees Fahrenheit) and an average high of 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit) in January. Summers are typically long and dry, characterized by medium heat and humidity; in July, the average low temperature is 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit) and the average high is 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit).

Skopje is divided into ten distinct communities: Aerodrom, Butel, Gazi Baba, Gjorce Petrov, Karposh, Kisela Voda, Saraj, Centar, Chair, and Shuto Orizari. Gazi Baba is the section with the highest population, and Srarj is the largest in terms of area.

People

Approximately 611,000 people lived in Skopje according to 2023 estimates by the US Central Intelligence Agency, accounting for almost a quarter of North Macedonia's overall population of 2,133,410. Across the country, about 58.4 percent of citizens are ethnically Macedonian according to 2021 estimates; Albanians are the next largest group, accounting for about 24.3 percent of the population. Other ethnic groups in the city include Turks, Romani, Serbs and, to a lesser extent, Bosniaks and Aromanians. The Albanian demographic fluctuated significantly through much of the twentieth century due to Slavic discrimination against Albanians. North Macedonia has hosted thousands of Albanians fleeing persecution.

The population of Skopje is steadily growing as immigrants migrate to the city in pursuit of jobs or education. The currency used in Skopje is the denar, and the official language, Macedonian, is unique to the country. Albanian is also prevalent, and Serbian and Turkish are also spoken. Minority languages are considered official alongside Macedonian in municipalities where they are spoken by at least 20 percent of the population.

Nearly 46.1 percent of the North Macedonian population adheres to the Macedonian Orthodox faith. Another approximately 32.2 percent adhere to Islam.

Economy

Skopje's location along the Belgrade-Athens highway, halfway between Tirana and Sofia, makes it a major trading and transportation center. Cotton, tobacco, grains, and livestock produced in rural areas of North Macedonia are all traded in Skopje. More than half of the country's exports are to the European Union (EU), particularly Germany and Bulgaria, while many imports come from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Greece. Non-EU trade partners include Serbia and China.

Skopje has been a center for the production of iron and steel, chemicals, timber, clothing and textiles, leather, electrical machinery, office supplies, and foodstuffs. Although some of these industries have closed or declined since Macedonia declared itself a republic in 1991, new industries have taken their place; for example, trade and banking industries have become important to the economy, as have tourism and sports. Skopje is North Macedonia's hub for international travel, with an airport as well as train and bus stations with international service.

Skopje's economy, like the North Macedonian economy as a whole, was stagnant for much of the twentieth century, largely due to trade embargoes and the country's transition to a republic. In the early twenty-first century, the national unemployment rate hovered near 40 percent, though this declined to about 16.2 percent in 2021. Unemployment in Skopje itself tends to be slightly better than in the rest of North Macedonia. There is also a significant gray market in the city and country as a whole, leading to considerable economic activity not captured in official statistics.

Landmarks

Skopje is home to several historical and cultural monuments. The Stone Bridge over the Vardar River, located in the old part of the city, was originally built in the sixth century and was rebuilt in the fifteenth century. It is made up of a dozen arches and exhibits a plaque commemorating its reconstruction by the Sultan Murat II. Also located in the old part of the city is the Old Skopje Bazaar, a marketplace full of eateries, tearooms, and craftspeople which retains the spirit of traditional Skopje in its shops and craft centers.

The Kale Fortress, a recreational park that offers views of the surrounding city and river, is considered one of the most impressive of Skopje's monuments. It dates from the city's period of occupation by the Ottoman Empire, and parts of it are constructed from pieces of the original ruins of Scupi. The building is a complex of towers and ramparts, and it housed troops of the Ottoman army until 1913 and the Yugoslav army from 1913 to 1953.

The Church of Sveti Spas, or Church of the Holy Savior, is located near the Kale Fortress and dates back to the sixteenth century; it was reconstructed in the nineteenth century. The church was originally constructed below ground because, during the Turkish occupation, it was illegal for a church to stand taller than a mosque.

Another famous building dating back to the city's period of Turkish rule is the Clock Tower, a six-sided monument from the sixteenth century. The sounds of the clock can be heard throughout the city. Although the tower was damaged during the fire of 1689 and the earthquake of 1963, it remains one of the largest monuments in Skopje.

Daut Pasha's Bath was the largest of the Turkish public baths. First used as a harem and then as a public bath after it was constructed in the fifteenth century, it now houses an art gallery and is the site of numerous concerts, including performances by the national orchestra. Skopje is also home to the Macedonia Academy of Science and Arts, the Macedonian National Theatre, and various museums and other cultural institutions.

History

Skopje was inhabited as early as 3500 BCE. The first urban development occurred during the fourth century when the city was the capital of Dardania, a region north of powerful Ancient Macedonia. In the third century, the city was formally founded as Scupi by the Greeks; it fell into Roman hands in the middle part of the second century and became a religious center.

The city came under Byzantine rule, under the control of Constantine, five hundred years later. An earthquake hit in 518 and destroyed nearly all of the ancient Greek architecture, the public baths, the Roman amphitheatre, and the early Christian Basilica. The earthquake signaled the end of Scupi, but the city was rebuilt by a Slavic tribe.

Skopje was occupied by the Byzantine Empire, Serbs, and Bulgarians in turn, until it was finally regained by the Serbs and became the capital of their empire in 1346, under the rule of Czar Stephen Dusan. In 1392, Skopje was claimed by Turkey and renamed Uskup; it became a major economic and administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for five hundred years, and served as the seat of the Turkish throne until 1453. The Turks managed to maintain the city despite another earthquake in 1555.

In 1689, a troupe of Hapsburg Austrians led by General Picolomini invaded Skopje and burned it to the ground. The fires raged for two days without ceasing, forcing the Turks to completely rebuild the city. In the 1800s a rail line from Belgrade to Greece was constructed, which helped the city maintain its status as a major center for trade and traffic. However, Skopje hit an economic downturn in the nineteenth century as the power of the Ottoman Empire declined.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Skopje was populated by various Balkan groups. Subsequently, control of the city was disputed by the Ottomans, Greeks, Serbs, Bulgarians, and native Macedonians. Skopje was a prominent site in the Balkan Wars (1912–13), after which the Turks were expelled from Skopje as it came under Serbian rule yet again. After the end of World War I, Skopje became a part of Yugoslavia and was occupied by Bulgaria during World War II. At the end of the war, it remained a part of Yugoslavia and underwent rapid industrialization, emerging as the capital of the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in 1945.

Another disastrous earthquake hit the city in 1963, killing 1,066 people and destroying the homes of more than 120,000 residents. The earthquake left all Turkish fortifications in ruins, and once again the city underwent a renaissance as it was rebuilt, much of it in modernist styles. (The city unveiled the "Skopje 2014" plan in 2010, intended to beautify public spaces.)

Macedonia declared independence in 1991 and designated Skopje as its capital. The economy struggled under the embargo on traded goods that Greece and other countries applied in response, though these embargoes were lifted by 1995. Macedonia applied for membership to the European Union, though an ongoing dispute with Greece over the country's name as well as political unrest in Skopje in 2012 and 2013 proved detrimental to its candidacy. In 2018 the nation reached an agreement with Greece to officially change its name to the Republic of North Macedonia, which went into effect in 2019. North Macedonia subsequently began the process of joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as well.

Bibliography

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Graan, Andrew. "Counterfeiting the Nation? Skopje 2014 and the Politics of Nation Branding in Macedonia." Cultural Anthropology, vol. 28, no. 1, 2013, pp. 161–79.

Hristov, Jordan, Hans Andersson, and Dragan Gjosevski. "Economics of Fragmented Land for Vegetable Growers in Skopje and the Southeastern Region of the Republic of Macedonia." Outlook on Agriculture, vol. 41, no. 2, 2012, pp. 109–15.

Kaplan, Robert D. Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History. Picador, 2005.

"North Macedonia." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Feb. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/north-macedonia/. Accessed 27 Feb. 2024.