Skopje is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia and it's the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic center. Scupi is attested for the first time in the second century CE as a city in Roman Dardania. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. From 1282, the town was part of the Serbian Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346 to 1371. In 1392, Skopje was conquered by the Ottoman Turks, who called it Üsküb. The town stayed under Ottoman control for over 500 years.

After the Second World War, the city developed rapidly, but this was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake, which destroyed 80 percent of the city. Although Skopje has been destroyed many times throughout its history, it still has many historical landmarks which reflect the successive occupations of the city. Skopje has some remains of Prehistorical architecture and has one of the biggest Ottoman urban complexes in Europe. Skopje Fortress was rebuilt several times before it was destroyed by the 1963 earthquake.