Skopje,
Republic of Macedonia
Sister City since 1971
City Coordinator - Bill Coughlin
Tempe’s
oldest sister city, Skopje, is the capital and largest city
of the Republic of Macedonia and it is located on the
Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is part of the
larger geographic region of Macedonia which also includes
Pirin Macedonia in Bulgaria and Aegean Macedonia in Greece.
The territory of the Republic is sometimes called Vardar
Macedonia after the Vardar River, which flows through the
country into Greece. Macedonia is landlocked, having common
boundaries with Albania on the west, Bulgaria on the east,
Greece to the south and Serbia on the north. The Republic
of Macedonia has a territory of approximately twenty five
thousand square kilometers.
Skopje lies on the upper course of the beautiful Vardar
River and is located in the northern part of the country.
It was founded as an Illyrian city and in the fourth
century AD became a Roman post called Scupi. It was taken
by the Serbs in 1189 and by the Ottoman Turks in 1392. In
1913, during the Balkan Wars, the city again came under
Serbian control, and in 1918 became a part of
Yugoslavia.