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Skopje[skOp´yu] Pronunciation Key or Skoplje[skOp´ulyu] Pronunciation Key, city (1994 pop. 444,760), capital of Macedonia, on the Vardar River. It is an important transportation and trade center as well as an industrial hub where chemicals, cement, machinery, and diverse light manufactures are produced. The city is also the see of an Orthodox Eastern metropolitan and the seat of a Macedonian university (founded 1946).
Dating from Roman times, Skopje was captured by the Serbs in 1282 and was the scene (1346) of Stephen Dusan's coronation as czar of Serbia. It fell to the Turks in 1392 and until the fall of Constantinople (1453) was considered the second city of Turkey. Skopje was taken by the Serbs in the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 and was included in Yugoslavia in 1918. It was occupied by the Germans during World War II. After liberation, it became the capital of the Yugoslavian constituent republic of Macedonia from 1945 until 1991, when Macedonia declared its independence.
Among the many ancient landmarks of the city are the Stephen Dusan bridge across the Vardar (said to date from Roman times and rebuilt in the 15th cent.), the Turkish citadel, the fine Mosques of Mustafa Pasha and of Sultan Murad (both 15th cent.), and the bazaar. Much of the city had to be rebuilt after a disastrous earthquake in 1963.
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