Skopje was a village.
Skopje ( Скопје , [ ˈskɔpjɛ ] ) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia . From 1282 , the town was part of the Serbian Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346 to 1371 . The town stayed under Turkish control for over 500 years , serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo . In 1944 , it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia ( later Socialist Republic of Macedonia ) , which was a federal state , part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia ( later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ) . In 1991 , it became the capital city of an independent Macedonia .