Mustafa Pasha’s water supply system

The water supply system was built in 1492, when the city of Skopje began expanding and the number of Islamic buildings, hammams and mosques increased, requiring large quantities of clean water. The bridge of arches through which the water was transferred has been preserved to this day. It was built at the exit of Skopje, to the right of the road Skopje - Kacanik. It is preserved in relatively good condition. It was built in order to reach the valley and transfer the water from the rich springs of Skopska Crna Gora to the city. It is a monumental single-story overhead water supply building. It was built by Mustafa Pasha, the founder of the Mustafa Pasha Mosque, in which waqf dating from 1514 the aqueduct was also mentioned. It is believed that this water supply system transferred water from the Laovec spring in the village of Gluovo in Skopska Crna Gora, to the "cannon barracks", the Mustafa Pasha Mosque, and the former Turkish hükümet (governmental/administrative building). The water was transported through the aqueduct by pipes running from west to east. It consists of 55 arches that rest on massive pillars with a square base and 42 openings relieving the wall mass, and its length was 386 meters total. The length of the catchment structure starting at the spring, up to the old fountain at the end of the water supply near the barracks, is about 8 km. As other Ottoman buildings, it was built of stone and bricks. Under the middle of the supplying system, the new course of the river Serava passes, which further flows into Vardar near Momin Potok. This facility is the only one of its kind in Macedonia and is the largest of the three amazing waterworks on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. The other two are in Montenegro. This cultural monument has suffered numerous damages from various wars and natural disasters.