City of Niš through Centuries
Situated at the crossroads of the Balkan and European roads, connecting Asia Minor to Europe, City of Niš is one of the oldest cities in the Balkans, and was considered a gateway between the East and the West even in the ancient times.
Legend has it that Niš was founded by a Prince Nisa, who built it using the nearby Humska Čuka stone. There is abundant archaeological evidence that Niš was inhabited in prehistoric times. Near the Fortress bridge, in 1878, a soldier excavated a 153 mm long prehistoric axe-hammer made of basalt from Ostrovica, near Niš. Another similar artifact, roughly hewn and 155mm long, was excavated from the ancient tombs near the Nišava River, and a flintstone saw was found near the City suburb Vrežina. All the archaeological finds dating from about 4000 BC are exhibited in the National Museum of Niš.
The town was named after the Nišava River, which was named Navissos by the Celtic inhabitants of the town. Each new conqueror gave the town a new name: Roman Naissus, Byzantine Nysos, Slovene Niš, or German Nissa.
In the zenith of its growth and flourishing, Naissus was one of the most important crossroads of the Moesian, Trachian and Dardanian road-network, because it was the intersection of the roads from Ljes (at the Adriatic coast), Thessalonica, Constantinople, and Singidunum (Belgrade). In ancient times, Naissus was an important stronghold and an invincible castrum. Its extraordinary geographic position made Naissus an important strategic spot, mentioned in many records on military affairs in the Balkans from the 2nd century on. It was near Niš that Claudius II gained a victory over the Goths in 269 AD and saved the Roman Empire from a great danger. Roman Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337), Diocletianus' successor to the throne born in Naissus in 274, richly endowed his birthplace. He built majestic edifices here, and made Niš an important economic, military and administrative centre..
Niš was besieged, raided, sacked, ravaged and burned to the ground several times in its long and turbulent history. It was sieged by the Huns in 441, devastated again in 448, and again in 480, when the partly rebuilt town was demolished by the Barbarians. Byzantine Emperor Iustinian restored the town but it was destroyed by the Avars once again. The Slavs, in their campaign against the Byzantium, conquered Niš and settled here in 540. About 987, the town was taken by the Bulgarian Emperor Simeon. In the 11th century Byzantium took control over Niš and the surrounding area again. In 1072, the town was raided by the Hungarians (Ugri). Manojlo I fortified the town, but his successor, Andronik, could not hold it, so Niš was seized by the Hungarian king Bela III. The town was in Greek hands for some time, and then, in 1185, it was under Serbian control, but not for long. In 1196, Isak Angelos defeated Stefan Nemanja and it was not until 1241 that Niš was in Serbian hands again.
The gates of Niš saw in several well-known dignitaries of Europe. In 1096 the Crusade leader Walter visited Niš, and in 1189 Niš welcomed Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in his campaign against Byzantium. He was greeted here by his ally, Serbian Despot Stefan Nemanja.
Although situated on the borderline between the East and the West, Niš has always been Orthodox - the seat of the large Niš bishopric, which, at the beginning of the 13th century included the areas around the Nišava River, the Toplica river, Mokro and Svrljig. In the period of the Patriarchate of Peć, Niš bishopric stretched as far as Leskovac and Paraćin.
