From 1282 , the town was part of the Serbian Empire and acted as its capital city from 1346 to 1371 . In 1392 , Skopje was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called it '' Üsküb '' , with this name also being in use in English for a time . The town stayed under Ottoman control for over 500 years , serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküp and later the Vilayet of Kosovo . At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture . In 1912 , it was annexed by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars . During the First World War the city was seized by the Kingdom of Bulgaria , and after this war , it became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Yugoslavia becoming the capital of the Vardarska banovina . In the Second World War the city was again captured by Bulgaria and in 1944 became the capital of SR Macedonia , then a federated state of Yugoslavia . The city developed rapidly , but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake
disastrous earthquake
1963 Skopje earthquake
Skopje