The ramparts
City views.
Mister No — CC BY 3.0 · Драган Сандић — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Vislupus — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Julian Lupyan — CC0 · Planeti — CC0 · Mister No — CC BY 3.0
Kale, from the Turkish word for fortress, crowns the highest point of Skopje's old town above the Vardar. Its stone walls and towers appear on the city's coat of arms, and from the ramparts the view takes in the Old Bazaar, the river, the new centre and Mount Vodno behind it. The hill was inhabited from the Neolithic, around 4000 BC. The first fortress was raised in the 6th century, probably under the emperor Justinian I, with stone taken from the Roman city of Scupi after an earthquake destroyed it in 518, so blocks with Latin inscriptions can still be seen in the walls. It was strengthened in the 10th and 11th centuries, Stefan Dušan was crowned emperor here in 1346, and in 1660 the Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi described its double walls and seventy towers. Much of what stands today has been restored, and archaeologists have excavated inside the walls. The grounds are open as a park and free to enter. Come in the late afternoon, when the light softens over the city, and wear good shoes for the uneven paths.
City views.
Latin inscriptions.
Light over the Vardar.
Top of the old town above the Old Bazaar, Skopje
Mustafa Pasha MosqueMustafa Pasha Mosque stands on a terrace above the Old Bazaar, just below the fo3 minutes walk4.6
Old BazaarThe Old Bazaar, the Čaršija, spreads over the east bank of the Vardar from the S5 minutes walk4.4
Kuršumli AnKuršumli An is the most striking of the Old Bazaar's caravanserais, the inns whe5 minutes walk4.4
Daut Pasha HamamDaut Pasha Hamam is a 15th-century Ottoman bathhouse at the southern entrance to6 minutes walk4.5
Macedonia SquareMacedonia Square is the main square of Skopje and the largest in the country, ab7 minutes walkYes, the grounds are open to visitors as a public park with no fee.