Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi (the name of a classical era Greco-Roman frontier fortress town). 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 Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346. In 1392, the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who renamed the town Üsküp (Uskub). The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture.
In 1912, it was annexed 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). The city was renamed into Skoplje. In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers, and renamed into Skopie. 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) and got the final form of name – Skopje. The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake.
Skopje in 1903
About this cache: This cache will show you part of Skopje from the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th century. In this period of time, as Skopje grew and evolved, many small neighborhoods called in Macedonian maala have established. The word maala (sing. “maalo”, pl. “maala”, from Turk word “mahala”) means small city district, but rather a small street at the time of Ottoman rule). The names of “maala” often revealed ethnical, religious, geographical or other features and origin of the inhabitants. Even today, after the big earthquake in 1963 and massive urbanistic changes, you can find in Skopje few neighborhoods – maala, dating from the end of 19th and beginning of the 20th. These “prehistorical” spots within modern Skopje represent something like an open museum exposition of old (half-ruined) houses, stone-paved streets and small gardens. Hurry to see this wonder, because its lifetime is measured in days! Urban mafia cries to grab this remnants of past times and built here a new Sheraton 1, and Sheraton 2, and Sheraton 3 and …………………..
Removing the name Uskub from the Railway station in 1912
Behind the cache, some 25 meters west, begins the "New neighborhood" (Maced.: "Novo maalo"). It is a very small "oasis" of the spirit of way of living in a "maalo", which still persists within the modern center of Skopje. Not for long...
Street in "New neighborhood" ("Novo maalo")
The cache location was changed very often, because this area is very busy. This location is quite dirty, but thanks to that the cache, somehow, persists. The cache is a micro plastic box with a magnet. Bring your pen. Be careful – busy place!!!! THE CACHE LOCATION does not represent the OLD SKOPJE!!!!! The old part of the city is about 50 meters behind, on west!
Sources: Wikipedia, other internet sources. Photos: Internet, Original (by Galejnik)