SKOPJE AQUEDUCT (АКВАДУКТ АКВАДУКТ)

The origins of this aqueduct (Скопски Аквадукт/Skopski Akvadukt, Ujësjellësi i Shkupit) are poorly known. Of the original two hundred or so arches, fifty-five remain, most of which are well preserved, stretching in one piece for 386 m on either side of the Serava River, a small tributary of the Vardar. Used until the ^18th century, the brick and stone structure was used to bring water from the small Skopska Crna Gora (the "Black Mountain of Skopje"), 32 km northeast of the city as the crow flies. There are three theories as to when it was built. In the ^first century AD for the water needs of the Roman colony of Scupi, located 2,200 m to the southwest? This is unlikely, as the aqueduct does not go in that direction at all. In the ^6th century, by the Byzantines for the site of the present fortress of Skopje, 2,600 m to the southeast? It is already more plausible, since the work points more or less in this direction. In the ^16th century by the Ottomans for the numerous baths and fountains in the neighborhood of Stara Čaršija, right next to the fortress? This theory seems to be the right one. It is the one favored by most scientists. But to decide, it would be necessary that the authorities finally decide to finance a real excavation campaign. In the meantime, the development and the protection of the site leave much to be desired, to the point that some inhabitants continue to come to plunder the stones and the bricks of the arches.