The founder of the city |
Legend has it that Niš was founded by a Prince Nisa, who built it using the nearby Humska Čuka stone. |
Name of the city |
The etymology of the city’s name remains unknown, although there are stories of the Celtic myth according to which the town was named “the city of fairies” after “the fairy river”, since, even though it was often ruined, fairies from the river kept restoring it. |
4000 - 3000 BC |
Archaeological findings from the prehistoric sites of Bubanj and Humska Čuka testify that Niš was inhabited as early as in the New Stone Age (Neolithic) and the Early Bronze Age. |
8th century BC |
Niš area represented the border-zone between the Illyrians and the Thracians. |
3rd century BC |
The Illyrians were defeated by the Celts, who conquered the whole region, and gave Niš its first recorded name: Naissus (The City of Fairies). |
75 BC |
The Niš area was conquered by the Romans during the Dardanian war. |
161 AD |
The first surviving records, by Claudius Ptolomei, in which Niš (Naissus) was mentioned as one of the four biggest cities of Dardania. |
2nd century |
Naissus was an important Roman military centre – a Municipium. |
272 |
Constantine Flavius Valerius was born in Niš. |
306 |
Constantine Flavius Valerius was proclaimed Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. |
4th century |
Ancient Niš, with Constantine’s residence at Mediana, flourished in prosperity, as a military and administrative centre of the Roman Empire. |
441 |
Niš was devastated by the Huns, as were many other cities in the Balkans. |
6th century |
Slavs came to the Balkans; Niš was developed into the Byzantine city under the rule of Byzantine Empress Theodora. |
11th or 12th century |
The church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was built, but because the colony of Dubrovnik merchants used it in the 16th century, it is known among the people as the “Latin Church”. Today, the remains of this church represent one of the oldest sacred monuments in Niš. |
1185 |
Serbian Župan Stefan Nemanja took over the city of Niš. |
1189 |
In Niš, Stefan Nemanja met Frederick I Barbarossa, the leader of the Crusaders, to discuss the strategy against the Byzantium. |
1385 |
Niš was seized by the Turks for the first time. The siege lasted for 25 days. Finally, the Turks took over the city in 1386. |
1443 |
In the so-called Long Campaign, Christian armies, led by the Hungarian military leader Janos Hunyadi together with Serbian Despot Đurađ Branković, defeated the Turks and repelled them to Sofia. An important battle was fought near Niš, which remained a free city for a whole year after that. |
1570 |
The colony of Dubrovnik in Niš was mentioned by the German diplomat Rime in his travelogues. |
1718-1723 |
The Fortress of Niš was built. It is one of the best-preserved and the most beautiful edifices in the Balkans erected during the Turkish rule. |
1737 |
Austrian armies seized Niš for the second time and held it for 85 days. |
1766 |
Metropolitan Gavrilo published Sinđelija, the first book published here. |
1809 |
The beginning of the Serbian campaign against the Turks. The first battles were fought near Niš. |
May 31, 1809 |
Stevan Sinđelić, Karađorđe’s vojvoda, led the Niš Campaign army which fought the Turks at the Čegar Hill near Niš, and was eventually defeated. From the heads of the killed Serbs, the Turks constructed the Skull Tower. |
January 11, 1878 |
Niš was liberated from the Turks. |
1878 |
The first Grammar School (Gimnazija) was founded. |
1881 |
The first bank was opened in Niš. |
1882 |
The Teachers’ Training College was founded in Niš. |
1884 |
The Niš – Belgrade railway line was opened for traffic.
The first issue of the local newspapers Niški vjesnik was published. |
1886 |
In Niš, the law was passed by which the Serbian Royal Academy was constituted. |
1887 |
Sinđelić, the first local theatre, was founded in Niš. |
1889 |
The Public Library was opened; the building of the County Administration (Banovina) was erected. |
1894 |
The Girls’ College was founded in Niš. |
1897 |
The citizens of Niš saw the first movie. |
1900 |
The first issue of Gradina, local literary magazine, was published. |
1905 |
Nadežda Petrović, well known Serbian paintress, founded the Fine Arts Colony in Sićevo, in the vicinity of Niš. |
1906 |
The first full-time cinema was opened in a pavilion in Sinđelićev Trg (Sinđelić’s Square). |
1908 |
The Sićevo hydro-electric power plant was built on the Nišava River near Niš. |
1914 |
At the beginning of World War I, Niš became the war seat of the Serbian Government and the National Assembly. |
December 7, 1914 |
The Niš Declaration: the National Assembly issued a declaration, explaining the aims of the liberation war and announcing the constitution of a new state, in which all the South-Slav peoples would be united. |
1915-1918 |
During World War I, Niš was occupied by the Bulgarian and Austrian-Hungarian armies. |
October 12, 1918 |
Niš was liberated. |
1929 |
Niš became the administrative centre of the Morava Region (Moravska banovina). |
1941 |
World War II. Niš was occupied by the German troops, who set up the Red Cross Concentration Camp in a Niš suburb. More than 12 000 prisoners were killed during the war, most of them shot on the Bubanj Hill near Niš. |
February 12, 1942 |
A successful escape from the Red Cross Concentration Camp was organized. |
October 14, 1944 |
Niš was liberated. |
1960 |
First faculties were founded in Niš as a part of the University of Belgrade. |
1965 |
The University of Niš was founded. |
1966 |
An important cultural festival established in Niš: Yugoslav Film Festival of Actors’ Achievements. |
1969 |
Another cultural event established in Niš: Yugoslav Choral Festival (YCF), the International Festival of Amateur Choirs. |
1971 |
Narodne novine, the first modern local newspaper were founded. |
1975 |
Niš became the administrative centre of the Niš Region. |
1992 |
Niš became the centre of the Nišava Administrative District. |
1996 |
After the local elections, and the attempted fraud by the supporters of the ruling party, the citizens of Niš stood up in peaceful protest. It took the citizens 100 days of protest rallies to force the regime to accept the election results. |
January 27, 1997 |
On St Sava’s Day, the City Assembly was constituted. |
1999 |
During the NATO campaign, 56 civilians were killed and more than 200 were wounded. |
2002-2004 |
Nisomnia Music festival was happening yearly at the Fortress of Niš, with performers such as The Wailers, Kosheen, Stereo MC’s, etc. |
2006 |
Nisville International Jazz festival (www.nisville.com) has been enlarged and moved to the Fortress of Niš and it has hosted many important musicians and bands from all around the globe. |
