Niš was eventually incorporated into Serbia during the wider Russo-Turkish War ( 1877-1878 ) and the Serbian Army entered in Niš on 11 January 1878 . During the Serbian – Ottoman War ( 1876 – 1878 ) the Albanian neighbourhood was burned and some of the Muslim population of Niš fled to the Ottoman vilayet of Kosovo resettling in Pristina where they dominated trade while others went to Skopje . The number of remaining Muslims counted were 1,168 , with many being Muslim Romani , out of the pre-war ca. 8,500 . The demographics of Niš underwent change whereby Serbs who formed half the urban population prior to 1878 became 80 percent in 1884 . In the upcoming years , the city saw rapid development . City library was founded in 1879 , and its first clerk was Stevan Sremac . The first hotel , '' Europe '' , was built in 1879 ; a hospital and the first bank started operating in 1881 . The City hall was built from 1882 to 1887 . In 1883 , Kosta Čendaš established the first printing house . In 1884 , first newspaper in the city '' Niški vesnik '' was started . In 1884 Jovan Apel built a brewery . A railway line to Niš was built in 1884 , as well as the city 's railway station ; on 8 August 1884 , the first train arrived from Belgrade . Since 1885 , Niš was the last station of the Orient Express , until the railroad was built between Niš and Sofia in 1888 . In 1887 Mihailo Dimić founded the " Niš Theatre Sinđelić . " In 1897 Mita Ristić founded the textile factory Nitex . In 1905 painter Nadežda Petrović established the Sićevo art colony . The first film was screened in 1897 , and the first permanent movie theater started operating in 1905 . Hydroelectric dam in Sićevo Gorge on Nišava was built in 1908 ; at the time , it was the largest in Serbia . The airfield was built in 1912 on the Trupale field , and the first airplane arrived on 29 December 1912 . City Museum was founded in 1913 , hosting archaeological , ethnographic and art collections
fled
Expulsion of the Albanians 1877–1878
History of Niš