Things to see and do Western Kosovo

With its red-walled churches contrasting with the green of the surrounding hills, the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć (Манастир Пећка патријаршија/Manastir Pećka patrijaršija, Manastiri Patriarkal i Pejës) marks the entrance to Rugova Gorge. Founded by St. Sava around 1330 and listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site since 2006, this 3-hectare Serbian Orthodox complex is, due to its historical significance, one of the most valuable religious sites in Europe. Important home of the Serbian culture, it conceals medieval frescos among the richest of the Balkans. Today occupied by about twenty nuns who follow the Julian calendar and the Code of Saint Sava, the monastery shelters the tombs of Serbian Orthodox primates, the oldest tree in Kosovo, the ruins of ancient monastic buildings and, above all, four churches and a narthex adjoining each other, which form an ecclesiastical complex almost without equivalent in the history of Christian architecture.

Ecclesiastical complex. Built between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the heart of the monastery of Peć is composed of four adjoining churches and a monumental narthex. A tour following the chronology of the realization of the buildings and their frescoes is almost impossible as the periods are so intertwined. We propose the following route

:1 - Narthex. Added around 1330 and remodeled two centuries later, this monumental portico links three of the four churches together and constitutes the "vestibule".
2 - Church of the Holy Apostles. This is the oldest of the churches and the catholicon (main church) of the monastery. Dating from 1230-1240, it is located in the center of the complex.
3 - Church of Saint Demetrios. Located to the north (left) of the Church of the Holy Apostles, it was completed in 1324.
4 - Church of the Mother of God-Hodegetria. Located south (right) of the Church of the Holy Apostles, it was built almost at the same time as the narthex (1330s).
5 - Chapel of Saint Nicholas. Significantly smaller than the other churches, it is also the only one not connected to the narthex and the only one without a dome. Built at the same period as the narthex and the church of the Mother of God, it is attached to the south wall of the latter.

An architectural rarity.

Seen from above, the ecclesiastical complex gives the impression of a single church with three domes. This is an almost unique example in the history of Christian architecture. The only monument that comes close is the Pantocrator Monastery (12th century) in Constantinople/Istanbul. The comparison with the great Byzantine buildings was in fact constantly in the minds of the commissioners of the Peć complex. For the Serbian primates and rulers, it was a matter of affirming the existence of an autocephalous patriarchate, i.e., independent of that of Constantinople. This desire is felt in the architecture of the buildings, marked by two local artistic currents (the school of Raška, then the Serbo-Byzantine school), in the inscriptions no longer written in Greek but in Old Slavonic (ancestor of the current Serbian-Croatian language) and, above all, in the frescoes.

Frescoes. The entire interior surfaces of the narthex and the four churches were painted. The frescoes date mainly from the 13th-14th centuries and the 16th-17th centuries, and are particularly well preserved with a few exceptions. Combining techniques of pigment application on wet plaster (affresco) or dry plaster (a secco)

, the painters produced works of great variety, both in their artistic qualities and in the themes treated. Largely influenced by Byzantine iconography, they also tried to break away from this heritage by creating rare or original themes. Thus, the series of portraits of Serbian saints created here have become a standard for all Serbian Orthodox churches. Created at different times, the frescoes in the five buildings also reflect the artistic and political developments of the Balkans, even incorporating elements of Ottoman culture, the Italian Renaissance, and Russian iconography. Conceived in the context of a largely illiterate society, these works can be read today as an immense comic strip recounting the life, myths and hopes of medieval man.

Red walls.

In 2006, all the exterior walls of the churches and part of the narthex were painted brick red (or ochre). This color evokes the first Byzantine churches built in brick and symbolizes the blood of Christ. For the Serbian patriarchate that commissioned the operation, it was to imitate the color of the catholicon of the monastery of Žiča (Serbia), which itself takes the traditional red of some monasteries of Mount Athos (Greece). The intervention has provoked strong criticism from many art historians for whom it distorts the original appearance of the complex. In fact, the exterior walls were designed to remain blank or to be decorated with frescoes.

Visit. Three things to know. The monastery is under police protection and you must leave an ID at the security station. An audio guide in French is available (2 €). The monastery store offers honey, Velika Hoča wine, and icons and raki made by the nuns.

The city centre (Qendra e qytetit, Centar Grada) extends over a small area on either side of the Pećka Bistrica (Lumbardhi i Pejës) river. The liveliest part is on the northern bank, along the korso (or korza), a typical promenade of former Yugoslav cities, here named Toni Bleri in honour of the former British Prime Minister (1997-2007). Lined with green spaces and café terraces, the korso stretches for 800 m to the Hotel Dukagjini, which is an excellent landmark. The hotel overlooks "Peja Square" (Sheshi i Pejës), where the tourist office and the statue of Mother Teresa are located. To the west, the landscape is dominated by the Albanian Alps and the Rugova Gorge, towards which the Queen Teuta Street (Mbretëresha Teutë or M9 road) runs. In the foreground stands the old Austrian-style pastel town hall erected in 1929 and, just next to it, a dome and tower from the socialist period. In fact, almost the entire district was rebuilt at that time, as was the wide pedestrian Adem-Jashari Street, which runs northwards, lined with trees and restaurants, to the House of Culture and the small municipal park. Towards the east, the korso passes the statue of Shkëlzen Haradinaj, a local KLA activist who died in 1999, and brother of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj (2017-2020). Then, still walking along the Pećka Bistrica, the walk leads to Haxhi Zeka Square, which marks the beginning of the old Shariah.

A visit to the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć is worthwhile mainly for its ecclesiastical complex (churches and narthex). But it is possible to walk around almost the entire 3-hectare compound to discover the traces of a long history. The monastery is surrounded by powerful walls inherited from the Middle Ages. At that time, the site was also defended by four towers and a keep, which have now disappeared. During the Ottoman era, in agreement with the higoumen (abbot), the Albanian inhabitants of the neighboring villages appointed voivodes (guardians) responsible for the protection of the monks. Thus, there remains a house of the voivodes, outside, on the north bank of the Pećka Bistrica. Inside the monastery grounds, once you pass the large wooden gate, you find yourself facing ruins. These are the foundations of conventual buildings destroyed by an accidental fire in 1940 (before the Italo-Albanian occupation of 1941-1943): a bakery, a refectory and a guest house from the Middle Ages, the monks' cells, two kitchens, a water mill, an attic and a stable from the 18th century. Excavations in the 1960s also revealed the presence of other ancient buildings to the north and east.

The treasure: saved, but inaccessible. To the right of the entrance, the belfry houses the bells of the monastery. This tower is about 15 m high and is in the Serbo-Byzantine style, but it dates from 1970. Two buildings have been added nearby since 2007: the store and a guesthouse. The ruins of the old belfry (14th century), destroyed in 1940, can be seen opposite the narthex. The northwestern part is dominated by modern conventual buildings dating from the 1980s and 1990s. They are located on the site of the old conventual buildings destroyed by a fire set by Albanian nationalists on the night of 15-16 March 1981. This attack on the churches resulted in the loss of the patriarch's residence, the nuns' refectory, the infirmary, the workshops and the monastery treasury. There were no casualties, but many documents and liturgical objects disappeared in the flames. However, a large part of the treasure accumulated since the 13th century, including icons, could be saved. The treasure remains on site, only shown to distinguished guests. Finally, throughout the complex are visible the tombs of the monks who succeeded each other here for seven centuries. They stand alongside those of the nuns who have occupied the monastery since the 1950s.

This series of twelve waterfalls (Ujëvarat e Mirushës, Miruše slapovi) is beautiful. It is part of a protected area created in 1982. A small tributary of the White Drin, the Mirusha River has carved out a narrow canyon 10 km long with cliffs up to 200 m high. It can be reached on foot by a well-developed trail that leads up the last part of the canyon, about 2 km long. On this section, the Mirusha River rises from 600 to 340 m in altitude. In the process, it makes twelve waterfalls, feeding sixteen small lakes. The most important waterfall, 21 m high, is located between the sixth and seventh lake. The last lake, which is the first to be reached, is one of the largest in the canyon, with a depth of 5 to 7 m. It is fed by a waterfall of about 10 m. It is fed by a waterfall about 15 m high. In summer, it is a popular meeting place for divers who climb the nearby rocks to reach the top and jump into the lake. Cool and shady, the site attracts many visitors during the summer season and a bar is set up near the last waterfall.

Regional park. The Mirusha Regional Park (Parku i Mirushës, Miruša Park) is located around the waterfalls. Covering an area of almost 6 km2 (598.4 ha), it covers the last part of the canyon and its surroundings. In addition to waterfalls and lakes, there are also several caves and cavities along the cliff faces. In the Middle Ages, these caves were home to Serbian Orthodox hermits from the 8th century. This complex geological system is the result of a long process with volcanic sedimentary formations dating from the Jurassic period, about 200-145 million years ago. Covered by a forest mainly composed of oaks and white willows, the park is home to 330 plant species, including mosses and lichens, but also a dozen flowers of species endemic to the Balkans, including a rare yellow broom(Genista hassertiana), the Macedonian scabiosa(Knautia macedonica) with small purple petals and the Albanian sanguisorba (Sanguisorbaalbanica), which is also purple. As for the fauna, the Mirusha Park is sometimes visited by the wolf. But the most common animals here are the wild cat, the marten, the badger, the wild boar, the muskrat, the squirrel and Hermann's tortoise. Beware, you may also come across the most dangerous snake in the country, the ammodyte viper.

This 90 ha protected area (Ujëvara dhe shpella e Radavcit, Radavačke pećine i vodopad) is located in the Albanian Alps National Park, less than 1 km west of the village of Radac/Radavac (1,300 mostly Albanian inhabitants). You first reach a parking lot next to the hotel-restaurant Ujëvara e Drinit ("source of the Drin"), then you have to continue on foot through the forest by a path for about 300 m. Then you reach the Radavac waterfall, at 600 m above sea level.

Waterfall. The place is called the "source of the White Drin" (Burimi i Drinit të Bardhë, Izvora Belog Drima), but it is in fact a resurgence. The White Drin is first of all an underground river which takes its source under the mount Žljeb (2 382 m of altitude). It emerges here with a beautiful 25 m high waterfall with a flow that can reach 65^m3/second at the end of winter. Drowned in the greenery, the Radavac waterfall is a bucolic spot and a protected area since 1983. But the place is very frequented by the inhabitants of the region and by the tourists with several restaurants in the vicinity. Slightly below, the river is also developed with a hydroelectric power plant, created by a Russian immigrant in 1934, which still supplies the nearby village with electricity. Following the path to the left of the waterfall, you will reach the Radavac cave.

Cave. Called the "Sleeping Beauty" in Albanian (Bukuroshja e fjetur), this 1,420 m long cave is rich in stalactites, stalagmites and columns. But its main characteristic is to have "baths", small natural limestone basins which retain the water coming from the underground network of the White Drin. Explored from 2002, it has been developed since 2016 with Swiss funding and managed by the Peja/Peć Aragonit Speleo Caving Club. A portion of about 300 m in length is thus open to visitors with three galleries. In the first one, animal bones from the Paleolithic period have been found, suggesting that the site was frequented by the first humans in Kosovo at that time. The third gallery houses the famous "baths". The lighting in red tones was thought for the current inhabitants of the cave. The cave is home to hundreds of bats belonging to four species (great rhinolophus, lesser rhinolophus, lesser murine and Schreibers' minnow).

This cave (Shpella e Kusarit, Pećina Kusari) is located shortly after Kusari/Kusar (less than 200 inhabitants), under Mount Pashtrik (1,986 m above sea level) which marks the border with Albania. The cave, high and shallow, would have been frequented by man in the Neolithic period, but it is of little interest. However, the path leading to it, which will be developed in 2019, is beautiful with wooden stairs that wind for 400 m between rock walls and under a natural arch. Nearby is the "Candle Cave" (Shpella e Qirave, Pećina Sveće).

This canyon (Kanjoni i Drinit të Bardhë, Kanjon Belog Drima) is part of a 199 ha protected area since 1986. Just after being joined by the Erenik River, the White Drin rushes into a gorge dug millions of years ago. The river is 900 m long and is surrounded by cliffs up to 45 m high. The canyon is visible in its last section from the bridge of Fshajt which is located shortly before the village of Xërxë/Zrze (3 000 inhabitants). Among the cliffs, two rock formations with evocative shapes are called the "eagle rock"(Shkëmbi i Shqiponjës) and the "Skanderbeg rock"(Shkëmbi i Skenderbeut). The latter, larger than the others, is located on the left bank (to your right when you are on the bridge) and is distinguished by its pointed top that resembles the helmet of the leader of the anti-Ottoman rebellion in Albania in the 15th century. A portrait of Skanderbeg was painted on the rock in 1968 on the occasion of the five hundredth anniversary of the warrior's death, but it has now disappeared. Some Albanian nationalists now want the rocks in the canyon to be carved with the effigy of the "Albanian hero" like Mount Rushmore in the United States. The authorities have not yet responded to this request. The longest river in the country (166 km, including 111 km in Kosovo), the White Drin then runs for 20 km before joining the Black Drin at Kukës, in Albania, to form the Drin, which flows into the Adriatic Sea shortly after Shkodra.

This artificial lake (Liqeni i Radoniqit, Radonjićko jezero) is the second largest body of water in the country (5.62 km2) and supplies Gjakova/Đakovica and Rahovec/Orahovac with drinking water. The site was the scene of a massacre on September 9, 1998, when KLA militants killed 34-39 Serb, Roma and Albanian civilians in retaliation for Yugoslav artillery fire on nearby villages. As a result, the lake has been little developed since. But it is not uncommon for families to come and enjoy the coolness of the lake in the heat of summer.

The highest point of the Albanian Alps National Park, Mount Gjeravica/Đeravica reaches 2,656 m and dominates the Junik region. It was considered the highest peak in Kosovo (and Serbia), until the discovery of the Great Rudoka (2,658 m above sea level), in the Šar Mountains in 2011. It remains no less impressive. In fact, it is the second highest peak in the Dinaric Alps chain after the Jezerca (Maja Jezercë) peak in Albania, which reaches 2,694 m in altitude. The surroundings of Mount Gjeravica are in any case suitable for beautiful hikes. To reach it, the easiest way is still to start from Deçan/Dečani. The most popular routes are those leading to the many glacial lakes. The largest is the Gjeravica lake (Liqeni i Gjeravicës. Đeravičko jezero), at about 2,200 m above sea level. Measuring 240 m in length and 120 m in width, it feeds the Erenik River, which rises right next to it, and is home to a host of insects that have a colony of salamanders as predators. In its northern part, Mount Gjeravica is connected by a ridge line to Mount Gusan (Maja e Gusanit, Gusan) which reaches 2,540 m in altitude on the border with Albania. Between the two peaks is the Heart Lake (Liqeni i Zemrës, Srcoliko jezero). Located at an altitude of about 2,200 m, it is 150 m long and 140 m wide and is indeed heart-shaped. The Albanian border is then very close (about 400 m), and one can cross it without realizing it.