Niš is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. Several Roman emperors were born in Niš or used it as a residence among are Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor and the founder of Constantinople, Constantius III, Constans, Vetranio, Julian, Valentinian I, Valens, and Justin I. Emperor Claudius Gothicus decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle of Naissus, present-day Niš. Later playing a prominent role in the history of the Byzantine Empire, the city's past would earn it the nickname Imperial City.

The city was destroyed several times in wars, but the city of Nis still has preserved historical streets and buildings. Architecture from the era of the Ottoman Empire is represented in the city fortress, built in the period between 1719 and 1723. The end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century marked a sudden change in architecture, in the age of the young Serbian state. This period is characterized by the penetration of Western principles in construction, Neo-Classical and Neo-Baroque styles, sometimes mixed in the same building.