Old Bazaar

The Old Bazaar (Macedonian: Стара чаршија, romanized: Stara čaršija; Albanian: Çarshia e Vjetër; from the Turkish: Çarşı meaning marketplace) is a bazaar located in Skopje, North Macedonia, situated on the eastern bank of the Vardar River, stretching from the Stone Bridge to the Bit-Pazar and from the Skopje Fortress to the Serava river. The Old Bazaar falls primarily within the borders of Čair Municipality but a part of it is located in Centar Municipality. As one of the oldest and largest marketplaces in the Balkans, it has been Skopje's centre  for trade and commerce since at least the 12th century.

The earliest known sources that describe the existence of a merchant quarter on the bazaar's territory date back to the 12th century. During Ottoman rule of Skopje, the Old Bazaar developed rapidly to become city's main centre of commerce. The Ottoman history of the bazaar is evidenced by roughly thirty mosques, numerous caravanserais and hans, among other buildings and monuments. The bazaar was heavily damaged by earthquakes that occurred in 1555 and 1963, as well as during the First and the Second World Wars and faced various rebuildings following these events.

History

The earliest known archaeological findings revealed at the Kale Fortress testify that the surrounding area has been inhabited since 4,000 BC, while the earliest historical facts mention the Paeonians as the first people who settled up on this area.

Following the fall of the city of Scupi under Roman rule, numerous Roman buildings, such as temples, thermaes, and theatres were built inside the city, that subsequently promoted it as an important religious and cultural centre in the Roman Empire.

In 518, Scupi was heavily damaged by a devastating earthquake, which prompted the Byzantine emperor Justinian I to rebuild a new capital that was located distantly from the destroyed city. Nevertheless, the local population settled up on a hilly area, where, later, the emperor Justinian ordered the construction of the Kale Fortress.

During the reign of king Samuel, Skopje was given a particular strategic, political, economic, and cultural importance, so that the surrounding area of the Kale hill was embanked by the enactment of defensive walls, in order to keep the treasures that were present in the settlement. At the time, there was a gate named "Watertower Gate", which was built with the purpose to defend the city against the successive attacks by the Byzantine emperor Basil II in 1001.