SKUPI

Before the arrival of the Romans on these grounds, the famous tribe of the Dardanians inhabited the city, and with the Roman colonization, and the romanisation of the natives, this town grew into a colony and began its prosperity. Skupi was located on an important road connecting the Aegean Sea with Central Europe as well as Thrace with the Adriatic Sea. Its location, as well as its size and the unusual rectangle frame, points to the fact that this town was a legion castrum (military barracks site) once.

Historical tells us that Skupi became a bishopric in 313 and a little more than one century later it was already an archbishop headquarters. This city marked its major economic and cultural breakthrough in two different periods: the first one in the First and the Second Century, and the second one in the early Fourth Century AD. Skupi was always the target of the numerous attacks of the barbaric tribes, which left their own mark on its territory. The city lived through the same tragic destiny of the many other cities' on the territory of Macedonia, and suffered in the disastrous earthquake that stroke the largest part of Macedonia in 518. After that, life mostly stopped in this area. According to the written sources, the inhabitants did not suffer extensively because it had previously settled the area in the neighborhood in order to avoid the intensive attacks of the heathen tribes.

The archeological research of this ancient settlement helped to discover buildings that helped to reconstruct the appearance of Skupi, once living its vital life in history. Basilica I is located in its central part. It is with three arcs and a double apse directed towards the west. The floor is a mosaic with mostly geometrical drawings. During the scientific research in the object, a large number of parts of decorative and other kind of architectural plastic have been found, among whom, especially important is the well kept Corinth Column. Most of Basilica I remains lie on ruins of buildings from earlier date. According to this, and particularly to the monumentality and the structure of the extraordinary interior decoration, this basilica dates from the early 4th Century AD.

In the northern part of the city, the beautiful ancient theatre is located, in which drama plays were held. It was built in the second century AD, designed on Roman architectural scheme. The numerous remains of the decorative architectural ornamentation point to the fact that this theatre construction was rich in decoration. Its monumentality speaks of the theatre as an object exceptional importance, because the whole cultural and entertainment life at that time was organized on in it. Basilica II is located under the theatre, on its southwest side, which, like Basilica I, has three arcs. The nortecs is on the west side, and a hemispheric altar apse on the east. There is a pastophoria to the north of the nartecs, and its pandan has not been preserved because it was rather damaged.

The baptisterium is located to the southeast, next to the southern arc. A part of the basilica lies on a similar construction, which points to the existence of an older construction that might have been a one-arc basilica. There was a row of columns between the arc of Basilica II, and double nisans between the columns, decorated with frescoes with geometrical motives in different colors. There were entrances on both sides of the nartecs. Marble columns, precise rosettes and other ornaments were found in its interior. There are no traces of a mosaic on the floor, but according to the state in which the floor is, we can say that it might have been the basis for setting up a mosaic. The floors of the nartecs and of the northern pastophoria are covered with bricks.

Basilica II dates from the end of the 5th and the beginning of the 6th Century. It had a dominant position in Skupi at that time, proved by the construction technique, as well as the Roman emperors’ money that was found under the nartecs. The fact that there isn’t much left of the church inventory inside, points to the opinion that the church was still in the process of building when the earthquake stroke.

There is another ancient building to the south, under the ancient theatre. It is the palace with a number of large rooms. On the walls of one of these rooms, there are frescoes whose ornamentation was done in geometrical drawings of various colors. This points to the its being used for official events.

An important part of the city is the city cemetery – necropolis. It is a place with a great number of valuable objects, which give us the possibility to get a complete historical portrait of the town. There are pre-Roman, early Roman, and late Roman graves there. Two types of graves can be found according to the burial procedure: with inhumation (skeleton burial) and with cremation (burning the bodies of the dead). Another element that can be used to specify the construction period is the grave architecture and construction.

The uncovered materials and objects indicate the different social status of Skip’s citizens, their cultural and economic attitudes. They speak of a city that was an important station on the Via Agnate road. Having all this in mind, we can come to the conclusion that Skupi offers great possibilities for the study of the Roman culture and the ancient history and culture in Macedonia and the Balkans.

D. Kareva

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