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        The old city of Stobi "...Stobis, vetere urbe...", as the Roman historian Livy named it, at the confluence of rivers Crna and Vardar, was the largest city in the northern part of the Roman province Macedonia, later capital city of the Roman province Macedonia Secunda, an important urban, military, administrative, trade and religious center of two large empires: Roman and Early Byzantine. 

        Located in the heart of Macedonia, on the crossroads between the Aegean World and the Central Balkan, during the whole period of its existence it was a center where cultural achievements of the ancient world gathered in a unique way...

        The archaeological site of Stobi is located in central Macedonia, at 80 km from Skopje and 85 km from the Macedonian-Greek border. The road along the valleys of the rivers Vardar and Morava is one of the oldest communication routes since prehistoric times, which historically connected Thessalonica and Singidunum (moder Belgrade). Exactly at Stobi, the road intersected with the so-called Diagonal road, a branch of the famous Via Egnatia that linked Heraclea Lyncestis (modern Bitola) via Stobi, Astibo with Pautalia and Serdica (modern Sofia). 

        Today the remains of this famous archaeological site are equally easily accessible from the E-75 corridor of the international highway, thus making it a very popular tourist destination in Macedonia. The nocturnal illumination of the city walls and preserved monuments, additionally emphasize its beauty and attractiveness. 

        The historical development of Stobi can be traced back to the 7th-6th centuries BC when it was a small Paionian Settlement that outgrew into a town in the 2nd century BC, during the reign of the Macedonian king Phillip V. In the times when Macedonia was already under Roman domination, the position of the town at this major crossroad and the salt trade became the main impetus to its further rise. During the reign of the first Roman emperor Augustus, Stobi was known as "oppidum civium romanorum", but soon after its social status was changed to a higher rank of municipium. It is the only town on our territory that minted its own coins between 73 and 217 AD. Soon after the emperor Constantine proclaimed Christianity as an official state religion, the late antique Stobi became an important Episcopal seat, whose bishops were among the church officials that participated in the Ecumenical Councils. 
        Towards the end of the 6th century AD the life in Stobi comes to its end, marking the end of the ten century history. In the next centuries Stobi vanished into oblivion under the thick layers of earth and sand, until 1861, when the French historian and traveler Leon Heuzey would rediscover the glory and the beauty of the ancient city.