According to research data, the first city-fortress was raised during the VI century, on a land that was inhabited several milleniums earlier, in the prehistoric period (Neolithic and early bronze period), proven by the remains of settlements that have been found. The fortress was dominated by the bulwark with antique structure on the outer side, also visible today. The material used for construction was yellowish limestone or travertine, that, together with the three fragments with Latin inscriptions, points to thoughts and possible assumptions that it originates from the Roman city of Skupi, which was completely destroyed after the strong and catastrophic earthquake in year 518.

The period of construction of the fortress exactly matches the period of emperor Justinian, who in Dardanija, according to some sources, built eight and renovated sixty-one fortresses. The relationship between Skopje and Skopje fortress and the ruling of Justinian, at present is a very popular subject, since there are assumptions that the great challenge for science and researchers, the mysterious city of Justiniana Prima, used to exist exactly at this location.

The VI century is also a century of the barbaric raids and tries for demolition and conquest of the fortified city, and this represented a big problem for the population, so that not before long, the fortress was either demolished or damaged to a great extent.

The construction of the medieval city-fortress over the remains of the early-Byzantine one, dates from the period from the 10th to the 11th (12th) century, a time when the Byzantine Empire has reoccupied and ruled with this region again, followed by tempestuous years filled with wars and riots. More detailed records about the appearance of the fortress during this period do not exist, except for several charters from the 14th century, mentioning some of its characteristic constructions, like the Large door, the Round tower, the Water tower, as well as churches that were demolished later on.

It is an impression that the complete and true description of the magnificent beauty of this fortress is represented in the words and travelogues of Evlija Chelebija, who visited Skopje in 1660. He wrote: "It is a fortified city, a very strong and sturdy fortress with double walls. The city gate and the walls are built from chipped stone that shines as if it were polished. One can not see so much refinement and art in the construction of any other city. The city lies in the middle of Skopje. It is a tall city, of a shedadovska construction and five-sided shape. The walls, that surround the city from all sides, reach the height of around fifty arshini. The city is protected by seventy bastions and three demir gates on its southeast side, and there are many guards in the entrance hall. The door and walls of the entrance hall are decorated with different arms and tools needed for the arms.

There is no site or location that can dominate the city. It lies on tall rocks, so that one can see the whole plain.

The river Vardar flows on its western side. On the same side of the city, there is a road that leads through the caves towards the water tower located at the riverbank. Since there is an abyss at this side of the city, as scary as the depths of hell, there are no trenches, nor there can be one. On the east, southeast and north side of the city, there are deep trenches. On that side, in front of the gate, there is a wooden bridge that lies over the trench. The guards used to lift the bridge using a windlass, which provided for defense of the gate. Above the gate, there is an inscription, giving more information about the reparations of the gate that took place in the past. The inscription reads: The wise son of Mehmed-han in the year eight hundred and fifty (i.e. year 1446)."

(Monuments of culture in S.R. of Macedonia, group of authors, Misla, Skopje, 1971).

History remembers the fortress, also as a location of some army warehouses, a hospital or a prison, remembered by older citizens who regularly think of them, telling stories and anecdotes about their childhood and adolescence.

The fortress was affected and damaged by the earthquake in 1963, it was forgotten about and than made popular again, but one thing is for sure – it is always present, keeping and hiding away the voices of past times in its cracks and crevices, voices about the eternal circle of destruction and recreations.

M. Cvetanovska

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