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Uskub

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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UscnP, or Skopia (anc. Scupi, Turk. Ushkiib, Sla y. Skoplye), the capital of the vilayet of Kossovo, European Turkey; on the left bank of the river Vardar, and at the junction of the railways from Nish and Mitrovitza to Salonica. Pop. (1905) about 32,000, consisting chiefly of Slays (Serbs and Bulgars), Turks, Albanians and a few gipsies. Uskiib occupies a picturesque and strategically important position at the foot of a valley which severs two mountain ranges, the Shar Planina and Kara Dagh. Main roads radiate N.W. to Prizren, W. to Gostivar, an important centre of distribution, E.N.E. to Kumanovo, and thence into Bulgaria, and S. to Kopriilii and Monastir. The city is the headquarters of an army corps, and the see of an Orthodox Greek archbishop, of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Albanians and of a Bulgarian bishop. Its principal buildings are the citadel, the palace of the vali or provincial governor, the Greek and Bulgarian schools, numerous churches and mosques and a Roman aqueduct. The industries include dyeing, weaving, tanning and the manufacture of metal-work, wine and flour, but Uskiib is chiefly important as the commercial centre of the whole vilayet of Kossovo (q.v.). The Imperial Ottoman Bank and the Banque de Salonique have branches in the city, and French is to a remarkable extent the language of commerce. Uskiib retains in a modified form the name of Scupi, one of the chief cities of northern Macedonia. A few unimportant ruins mark the ancient site, about 12 m. N.W. Scupi was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 518, but was rebuilt by Justinian under the name of Justiniana Prima. Up to the 14th century it was at times the capital of the Servian tsars.