Birthplace of Constantine the Great — one of the oldest cities in Europe, the Skull Tower built from 952 Serbian rebel skulls, and the finest cevapčici in the Balkans
Nis is Serbia's third-largest city and one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the Balkans — the birthplace of Emperor Constantine the Great (born 272 CE) who would make Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire. The city sits on the ancient route connecting central Europe to Constantinople. The Nis Fortress (18th-century Ottoman reconstruction on Roman foundations) is the central public space. Cele Kula — a 1809 Ottoman warning monument built from the skulls of 952 Serbian rebels — stands 1km from the city centre and remains one of the most confronting historical mo…
Naissus (Roman Nis) was the birthplace of three emperors: Constantius I, his son Constantine the Great, and Julian the last pagan emperor. Constantine's birth in 272 CE makes Nis one of the most historically significant small cities in European history. The city was destroyed by Attila the Hun in 443 CE and rebuilt; it was contested between Byzantine and Bulgarian empires through the medieval period. Ottoman conquest in 1386 brought four centuries of Ottoman rule. The Skull Tower (Cele Kula) was constructed in 1809 after the Battle of Cegar — where Serbian rebel Stevan Sindelic blew up his ow…