Tourist Attractions & Monuments 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.

This bridge (Ura e vjetër e gurit, Stari kameni most) is not so old, but it is the symbol of the city. Spanning the Prizrenska Bistrica (Lumbardhi i Prizrenit) which crosses Prizren from east to west, it was built in 1982 to replace the old Ottoman "old stone bridge" (late 15th-early 16th century) which was washed away by a flood in 1979. Still made of ashlar, the current version is shorter in order to be more resistant with a 17 m long deck compared to 30 m before. However, the general appearance has been preserved with a main arch (10 m long and 5 m high), two secondary arches (4 m long and 3 m high each) and a slightly curved deck 4.20 m wide. The two asymmetrical cavities placed at the level of the piers make it possible to lighten the structure and to let water pass through in the event of a major flood. The structure connects the Shatërvan/Šadrvan district on the left bank (south) with the Saraçhana/Saračana district on the right bank (north). In this it played an important role in the development of the city by allowing the transit of merchants and their caravans. Today, Prizren has twenty bridges and footbridges. The Old Stone Bridge is thus framed, upstream, by the Arasta Bridge (Ura e Arastës, Arasta most), first built in wood in the 15th century and now a concrete road bridge, and, downstream, by the Blue Bridge (Ura e kalter, Plavi most), a modern footbridge with blue railings where "love padlocks" are hung.

Installed in 2008 in front of the Palace of Youth and Sports, this work of contemporary art (Monumenti i Newborn, Spomenik Newborn) is one of the symbols of modern Kosovo. It is composed of seven steel pieces (9 tons in total) spread over 24 m in length and forming the capital letters N, E, W, B, O, R and N, and the English word newborn. Each of the letters is 3 m high and 90 cm thick. The word newborn was chosen because it has two meanings: it means both "newborn" and "reborn" (past participle of the verb "to be reborn"). Thus, the monument evokes both the official "birth" of the young state and the "rebirth" of a territory with an older history. The monument was created on the initiative of Fisnik Ismaili (b. 1973), an advertising executive, satirical cartoonist, politician and former member of the KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). The idea appealed to the authorities and the work was unveiled on 17 February 2008, the day the country declared its independence. The next day, the photograph of the Newborn monument was featured on the front page of many newspapers around the world to illustrate the declaration of independence. The work thus quickly gained international notoriety, contributing to Kosovo's efforts to gain recognition.

Decoration and controversy. In the days following the inauguration, some 150,000 people engraved or inscribed their names on the letters of the monument. Then, it was redecorated several times, as in 2013, with the flags of nations recognizing Kosovo's independence. More disturbingly, in 2021 it sported a camouflage motif in support of former KLA members being prosecuted by international justice for crimes against humanity. In addition to the fact that some minorities in the country do not recognize themselves in this monument, it is also at the center of a dispute over copyright. The FF DIN font used to design the seven letters has been a registered trademark recognized by the Typographical Association since 1994. Since then, it has been the best-selling typeface in the world. However, its creator, the Dutchman Albert-Jan Pool (born 1960), is opposed to its use by Kosovo, at least in the context of commercial reproductions, for which he receives no royalties. The Newborn monument has become an icon of the small Kosovar tourism industry, and has been used as a key ring, decorative object, T-shirt, etc.

Located at 510 m above sea level, this fortress of Byzantine origin (Kalaja e Prizrenit, Prizrenski Grad) has been the subject of an unfortunate reconstruction of a rough "medieval" style during the years 2012-2016. Nevertheless, it offers a beautiful view of the city and Mount Paštrik (1,986 m above sea level) located on the border between Kosovo and Albania. It is here that the settlement of Prizren began, around 2000 BC. By its strategic position to control the passage between the Adriatic and the Danube, the hill was powerfully fortified by the Byzantines under the reign of Justinian in the 6th century. It passed to the Nemamjić dynasty around 1220 and became the first capital of the short-lived but powerful Serbian Empire (1346-1371), before Stefan Dušan established his court in the fortress of Skopje (Northern Macedonia). Conquered by the Ottomans in 1455 (or 1459), the fortress was remodeled to accommodate a garrison with two compounds and a mosque (1808). Occasionally occupied, it served for a long time as a gathering place for the Serbs of the region who organized here the kolo, the traditional circle dance of the Slavs of the Balkans. The fortress was abandoned after the First Balkan War (1912-1913), but its tunnels served for a long time as water reservoirs for the city. The municipality plans to install an archaeological museum there. In the meantime, one can walk around the ramparts, discover some of the underground tunnels and ruins or simply contemplate the view.

This museum, founded in 1977 (Kompleksi i Lidhjes së Prizrenit, Kompleks Prizrenske lige), is dedicated to the first Albanian nationalist movement, the League of Prizren (1878-1881). It is housed in two Ottoman-style buildings that belonged to the Gazi-Mehmed-Pasha mosque complex (16th century). The buildings have been remodelled several times and were even moved in 1963 to create the road along the river. But above all, they are among the few monuments in the city centre burnt down by Yugoslav forces in March 1999. Rebuilt in June 2000, this museum is one of the most popular sites for Albanian Kosovars. Unfortunately, the visit can be disappointing: lack of explanations, mixture of originals and copies, partisan presentation. The smallest of the buildings is the house that housed the leader of the league, Abdyl Frashëri (1839-1892). There are weapons and documents of the period, and a recent map of "Greater Albania". The second building is the former Koranic school where the first assembly of the league took place on 10 June 1878. Traditional costumes are on display (ground floor) and photographs and works of art (upper floor). Note the two bronzes from the 1970s by the great Kosovar sculptor Agim Çavdarbasha (1944-1999) representing the two founders of the league, the Albanian deputy Abdyl Frashëri and the wealthy Prizren landowner Ymer Prizreni (1826-1887). The two busts were found in the river at the end of 1999.

This regional museum (Muzeu Arkeologjik, Arheološki Muzej) is housed in an Ottoman-era complex that includes an old hammam (Hamami i Shemsedin Beut, Hammam Šemsidin Bega) and the town's clock tower (Sahat Kulla, Sahat Kula). It houses a small but interesting collection covering a period from the Neolithic to the late Middle Ages (about 800 objects). But it is especially worth a visit for its architecture. The clock tower (19th century) is completely embedded in the baths (15th century). The hammam is said to have been built in 1498 by Ahmet Shemsedini Bey, a local Albanian governor whose family dominated the city until the 19th century. The rectangular building is constructed of stone and brick. It is surmounted by seven lead-covered domes that stood above the hot rooms. The first wooden clock tower was added in the 17th century to indicate the time of the five daily prayers to the Muslim inhabitants of the city.

Climb the tower without a clock. The hammam seems to have stopped working in the 1880s. It was at this time that the wooden tower was replaced by the present (brick) tower on the initiative of Eshref Pasha Rrotulli, a member of the local Albanian elite, whose brother was responsible for the renovation of the Gazi-Mehmet-Pasha hammam (see description). The tower, which is about 25 m high, was of little use, however, as during the First Balkan War (1912-1913) the clock mechanism and its bells were lost and never replaced. The complex was abandoned for sixty years, but was finally listed and restored in the 1970s and turned into a museum in 1975. After several periods of closure in the years 2000-2010, it is once again open to the public. It houses some of the artefacts discovered in the White Drin Valley during the excavation campaigns of the 1960s, mainly Roman and Byzantine tombstones (in the courtyard), fine pottery, spearheads and Neolithic bronze jewellery from sites around Prizren, Dragash/Dragaš, Rahovec/Orahovac and Suhareka/Suva Reka. If there are not many visitors (which is often the case), a guide can offer you to climb to the top of the tower from where you can enjoy a beautiful view of the city's rooftops and the Prizren fortress.

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.

Banjska means baths into Serb. The village shelters a source of hot water (48°C) sulphur, recognized for a long time to have therapeutic virtues. In May 2015, the unhealthy ancient buildings of the thermal baths were shaved and a project of spa complex on the site is in project. Only the source, emerging from the slope, is always visible.

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 national park (Parku Kombëtar Malet e Sharrit, Nacionalni park Šar-planina) was established in 1986 and expanded until 2012 to 533 km2. It is one of the two national parks in the country together with the Albanian Alps National Park in the Western Kosovo region. It stretches along North Macedonia and into Albania, between the Kosovar villages of Štrpce/Shtërpca and Dragaš/Dragash (see Prizren region). Since 2021, it has been part of a huge cross-border protected area of more than 2,400 km2 which includes two national parks in Northern Macedonia, Mavrovo (730 km2) and Šar Mountains (627 km2), as well as the Korab-Koritnik nature park (555 km2) in Albania. But on the Kosovo side, there are no information centres for visitors. To find a guide, you have to turn to the tourist office in Prizren (Visit Prizren) or to the Uspon club in Štrpce/Shtërpca.

Fauna and flora. The national park is home to 1,800 species of plants, 175 of which are protected, 18 of which are found only in the Šar Mountains. You can easily spot the large Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce) and its cousin the Bosnian pine (Pinus heldreichii), but it is more difficult to spot the rare Šar carnation (Dianthus scardicus Wettst.) or the Nathalia ramondie (Ramonda nathaliae). This flower with purple petals is found only in Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Northern Greece. For its ability to revive at the first rain, it is considered by the Serbs as a symbol of the spirit of resistance of their army during the First World War. There are also 36 kinds of mammals here, such as bears, wolves, roe deer, wild boars and chamois. You will have the best chance of seeing the chamois, as the park is home to over 700 of them. There are also 147 species of butterflies, 45 species of amphibians and reptiles, including the marsh tortoise which lives in the high altitude lakes. Finally, with the creation of the large transboundary protected area, we can hope for a return of the Balkan lynx to Kosovo: this species now numbers only about 50 individuals residing in the Mavrovo National Park (Northern Macedonia) and the Korab-Koritnik Nature Park (Albania).

Lakes. There are no less than 27 glacial lakes in the national park, known as the "eyes of the Šar". At the foot of Mount Peskovi (2,651 m above sea level), the third highest peak in the country, is Lake Jažince (Liqeni i Jazhincës, Veliko Jažinačko jezero). Its own altitude is 2,180 m and it can be reached from Prevalac/Prevalla (14 km southwest of Štrpce/Shtërpca). It is a 2-hour walk south-east of the village and is 120 m long and 50 m wide, with a depth of about 5 m. It is said to be the most beautiful lake in the world. It is reputed to be the coldest lake in Kosovo, yet it is home to trout. Further down, an hour's walk to the north-east, the Black Lake (Liqeni i zi, Malo jažincko jezero) is located at an altitude of 1,416 m and is only 50 m wide at its widest point. But it is one of the most isolated of the massif. Its black colour comes from the dark rocks at the bottom while it is bordered by white rocks on the surface. Above all, it is worth a visit for its pretty heart shape.

Strict nature reserves. The national park includes three strict reserves created in 1960 and located slightly north of the Sredska Valley (see description). The westernmost, above the village of Mushnikova/Mušnikovo, is the Ošljak Strict Nature Reserve (Rezervat Strikt i Natyrës Oshlaku, Strogi prirodni rezervat Ošljak). It is located near the Ošljak mountain (2,212 m above sea level) and covers an area of 20 ha, including a Bosnian pine forest, a few pairs of capercaillie and the rare Alexander's yarrow(Achillea alexandri-regis). Above the village of Gornje Selo/Gornjasella is the "Great Pine" nature reserve (Rezervat Strikt i Natyrës Pisha e Madhe, Strogi prirodni rezervat Golem bor). With an area of 44 ha, it is home to the Macedonian pine, a rocky plant endemic to the Balkans(Sedum flexuosum), and the Lanner falcon(Falco biarmicus). Finally, further east, the small ski resort of Prevalac/Prevalla is dominated by the Popovo Prase mountain nature reserve (Rezervat Strikt i Natyrës Maja e Arnenit, Strogi prirodni rezervat Popovo prase). The 30-hectare protected area around the 1,924-metre-high peak is characterized by a mixed forest of Bosnian pine, Macedonian pine and Balkan beech. Endemic plants of the cross-border region include Šar grass(Vrbascum scardicolum), Albanian bellflower(Campanula albanica) and Albanian thyme (Thymusalbanus).

Activities. The national park is still poorly marked and it is recommended that professional mountain guides be used for hiking. However, it is easy to drive through and provides a nice alternative and bucolic route from Prizren to Pristina (114 km, about 2h20). Along the R115 road, you will find a few gas stations, restaurants, hotels and many villages. Finally, it's not very green, but the national park is home to two ski resorts, including the largest in Kosovo, Brezovica.

Surrounded by mountains exceeding 2,000 m in altitude, this pretty valley (Sredačka župa/Srecka) extends for about 17 km in length along the Prizenska Bistrica. Located in the Šar Mountains National Park, it is mainly inhabited by Bosnians and owes its name to the former medieval Serbian county of Sredska. The road that crosses it (R115) is dotted with villages where you can find shops, restaurants, a few hotels, modern mosques and many small Serbian Orthodox churches from the 16th-17th centuries. Arriving from Prizren, Rečane/Reçan (900 inhabitants, mostly Bosnian) marks the entrance to the national park. From there, secondary roads lead to various villages, including Donje Ljubinje/Lubinja e Poshtme (6.7 km southeast of Rečane/Ressent), which is famous for its weddings where the women wear full makeup. The inhabitants are of Goran culture (see Dragaš/Dragash), but today they declare themselves "Bosnian". On the way back from Rečane/Reçan to Štrpce/Shtërpca, the R115 passes through several Serbian villages that have been depopulated since 1999.

Towards the Prevalac pass. The former political center of the valley, Sredska now has only about 60 inhabitants, mostly Serbs, but is home to several churches, including the 17th-century Dormition of the Mother of God in the hamlet of Pejčiki/Pejçiq (1 km north) and the 16th-century Church of St. George in the hamlet of Milačiki/Milaçiq (1 km south). A little further along the R115, in the cemetery of the hamlet of Bogoševac/Bogoshevc, the church of St. Nicholas preserves its 17th-century frescoes. The road then passes through Mushnikova/Mušnikovo (1,100 inhabitants, mostly Albanians) where stands an elegant little mosque from the 19th century. In the village there are two churches: the church of St. Nicholas (17th century) with well-preserved frescoes, and the church of the Holy Apostles (16th century) with a few fragments of paintings with Greek inscriptions. Three kilometers further on, at the entrance to Gornje Selo/Gornjasella (250 inhabitants, mostly Bosnian), is the beautiful church of St. George with frescoes from the 16th and 17th centuries. The road leaves the Prienzenska Bistrica here and crosses the Prevalac Pass (1,535 m) in a series of four hairpin bends and reaches the Prevalac/Prevalla ski resort, whose only ski lift climbs to 1,991 m. This is the place in the valley with the most hotels. The R115 then continues to Štrpce/Shtërpca for 14 km.

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.

Established in 2002, this annex of the Museum of Kosovo (Muzeu etnologjik, Etnološki muzej) is housed in the beautiful konak Emin-Gjik. The museum houses six collections depicting the daily life of Kosovo Albanian families during the Ottoman period: pottery, wooden objects, weapons, costumes, musical instruments and jewelry. Note in particular the xhubletas, traditional Albanian bell-shaped skirts, the fustanelles, pleated skirts of men present until Greece, or the necklaces and brooches in filigree with fine gold or silver threads.

This early 14th-century Serbian Orthodox church (Kisha e Shën Premtës, Црква Богородица Љевишка/Crkva Bogorodica Ljeviška) contains precious frescoes that have earned it a Unesco World Heritage Site. A former cathedral transformed into a mosque in the 16th century, it has had a long and tumultuous history. Damaged during the anti-Serbian riots of 2004, it is once again open for worship on the Orthodox feasts of the Mother of God: 25 March, 15 August, 8 September,¹ October and 21 November. The church is accessible on these days and is expected to be open all year round from 2022 or 2023.

History

The history of this building dates back to the early centuries of Christianity. The church follows the plans of an ancient Byzantine basilica.

Foundation. The church was founded in 1306 by the great builder-king Stefan Uroš II Milutin (1282-1321), to whom the Novo Brdo fortress and the Gračanica monastery are attributed. He left an inscription here on the apse at the back of the building: "I have renewed this temple from its very first foundation." For the site had already been occupied by a first Byzantine basilica from the^5th-6th centuries, a Serbian or Bulgarian church around the 10th century, a new Byzantine basilica in the 11th century, and a Serbian church built in the 1210s. For King Milutin, it was a matter of providing a prestigious seat for the rich eparchy (diocese) of Prizren. This church was then a central part of the Serbian Orthodox Church, which had been recognized as autocephalous (independent) by the Byzantine Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1219. The new church is dedicated to the Annunciation of Mary and takes the Greek name of the previous churches: Theotokos Eleousa ("Mother of God of Tenderness"), which is translated into Slavonic as Bogorodica Ljeviška. In 1346, the church was symbolically elevated to a cathedral.

Construction. The church, typically Byzantine, was built between 1306 and 1309 with walls of alternating brick and stone. The frescoes were created between 1307 and 1313. The work was entrusted to two great artists of the "court school of King Milutin": the masters Nikola and Astrapas, whose names appear in the exonarthex. The former is a Serbian or Greek architect to whom we owe several achievements in the Balkans, including the magnificent church of St. George the Martyr at Staro Nagoričane (northern Macedonia), also commissioned by Milutin. In Prizren, the master Nikola designed a church in the form of an inscribed cross with a main dome, four secondary domes placed diagonally and a high bell tower on the façade. The plan is dictated by the previous buildings, parts of which have been preserved. The former three-aisled basilica thus becomes a single-aisled church with a side chapel on each side. However, this unusual form is also found in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Thessaloniki (Greece), built just after Prizren in 1310, possibly by the same architect. As for the frescoes, some dating from the 1230s are preserved. But most of the walls and ceilings are decorated by the Greek painter Michalis Astrapas ("Michael the Lightning", a nickname due to the fact that he painted fast) and his brother Eutychios, who would later work on the decoration of the monastery of Gračanica.

Transformations. The general appearance of the building has changed little. However, at the beginning of the Ottoman era, around 1517, the church was transformed into a mosque. It was named Atik ("old" in Turkish), then Juma ("Friday" in Arabic). The seat of the eparchy was transferred to an unidentified church in the city, which was then mainly populated by Serbs. A minaret was built above the bell tower and a mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca) was installed in the southern part. The frescoes and their human representations, profane in the eyes of Islam, are coated with plaster. However, the plaster did not adhere well and some of the panels came off. So in 1756, all the walls were hammered out to allow a new layer of plaster to adhere better. When Kosovo returned to Serbia in 1912, the building became a Serbian Orthodox church again. The minaret and mihrab were removed, but the frescoes were thought to have disappeared. It was not until 1950 that Yugoslav scientists took soundings in the walls and rediscovered the old paintings. After a year of work, some two hundred frescoes covering about a third of the interior surface reappeared, all hammered out, but mostly well preserved. On March 17, 2004, the church was vandalized during the anti-Serbian riots: a fire was set inside covering all the walls with soot. But two years later, in view of its artistic and historical value, the church was included among the "medieval monuments in Kosovo" of the Unesco World Heritage as well as on the list of World Heritage in Danger. At the same time, Unesco obtained from the Kosovar authorities that the heritage services of Serbia ensure its restoration.

Frescoes

It took fifteen years of work to repair the damage caused in 2004. Between 2006 and 2021, under the aegis of UNESCO, Serbian and Italian specialists in medieval painting took turns at the church's bedside. All the walls have been cleaned and consolidated, the frescoes saved and restored. Some of them have been specially treated: on small areas corresponding to the hammering, the missing parts have been reconstituted.

Exonarthex. This "pre-vestibule" is placed under the bell tower. Note on the first arch on the left (north side) a rare personification of the Old Testament with a rhipidion (angel) holding a kind of red beam at the top of which appears a small Christ Emmanuel. On the right (south) vault, a large part of a very beautiful scene of the Last Judgement remains, where Christ seems to be placed under spotlights. Below, the walls are occupied by portraits of Serbian archbishops whose faces were all erased when the building was converted into a mosque. This is almost the only place in the church where this is the case. Elsewhere, the 18th-century workers simply hammered away at the frescoes without attempting to destroy them, just to make the plaster adhere.

Narthex. You now enter the "vestibule". The wooden mezzanine corresponds to the place of the catechism where the non-baptized attended the liturgy (mass). The surviving frescoes below it are dedicated to the Serbian dynasty of the Nemanjić (1166-1371). Opposite, on the left, is a fine portrait of the church's patron, King Milutin, wearing the akakia of the Byzantine emperors, a purple silk case filled with dust reminding the powerful that they too are destined to become dust again. Before entering the naos, turn around: under the mezzanine, the western wall is occupied by a large family portrait: Stefan Nemanja, the first king of the dynasty, surrounded by his two sons, including Saint Sava, on the left, founder of the Serbian Church in 1219. Next to him stands a figure holding a strange white object. No, it is not a satellite dish. The young man is in fact a cerophonist, a candle bearer.

Naos. The most frescoes are on the four pairs of pillars here. They are portraits of Christ and saints (martyrs, warriors, doctors...). On the first pillar on the right, a magnificent portrait of Saint Theodosia. The fourth pair of pillars is different: it only has the frescoes of the upper register with the episode of the Annunciation: Mary (pillar on the right) and the archangel Gabriel (pillar on the left) coming to tell her that she is pregnant. Turning back to the narthex, see around the window the dormition (death) of the Mother of God: on the left, Christ holds against him a swaddled baby, symbol of Mary's soul.

Domes. The caps of the five domes each contain a representation of Christ. In the centre of the naos, the main dome is decorated with Christ Pantocrator ("Almighty" in Greek). With his left hand, he holds the Holy Scriptures. The fingers of his right hand form the symbol of his double nature, human and divine. His blue robe is painted with lapis lazuli stone powder, the most precious pigment of the Middle Ages. The second register is occupied by eight prophets from the Old Testament. Among them, Daniel is distinguished by his tunic pulled up above his knees: an evocation of the two episodes in which he emerges unharmed from the lions' den. Under the secondary domes, placed at the four corners of the naos, Jesus appears as Christ Emmanuel in the guise of a child (southwestern dome, on the right after the entrance), as Christ the Priest in the guise of a young adult (northwestern dome), as a mature Christ (northeastern dome), and as the "Ancient of Days," a Byzantine representation of the elderly Christ (southeastern dome). Under the domes of Christ the Priest and Christ the Mature, note the beautiful colours of the frescoes of the prophets and patriarchs of the Old Testament.

South ambulatory. On either side of the nave, a narrow "ambulatory" runs between the pillars of the naos and the four arches of the side chapels. In the southern ambulatory, at the level of the main dome, the interior of the third arch houses the oldest fresco, which is also the dedication of the church: the Mother of God of Tenderness and the Nurturing Christ. Restored in 1951, it depicts Mary holding the infant Christ on her lap, who takes food from a basket and distributes it to the people. This association of the Virgin Eleusora and the Christ the Nurturer (also called the "Guardian of Prizren") is unique in Christian iconography. The fresco belonged to the previous church and was painted around 1230 by an unknown artist. Two other 13th century frescoes were discovered in the narthex in 1951. They are now on display in the National Museum in Belgrade (Serbia).

Chapel of Saint Demetrios. The southern ambulatory gives access to this chapel dedicated to Saint Demetrios of Thessalonica, who died as a martyr in 306. This was the heart of the mosque, with the mihrab towards which the faithful directed their prayers. However, some frescoes have been partially saved. One can guess the scene where Demetrios is condemned to death by the emperor Galerius and the one where Nestor, the disciple of Demetrios, kills Lyaeos, a gladiator who massacred Christians.

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 mosque (Xhamia e Sinan Pashës, Sinan-pašina džamija) is the most beautiful in Prizren. It was completed in 1615 for its patron, Sofi Sinan, a prominent Albanian and former Ottoman governor of Bosnia. Built with stones from the Holy Exchange Monastery, it retains much of its original structure: raised foundations, a square base (about 14 m square), walls 1.65 m thick, a main dome up to 25 m high, a half-dome at the back housing the mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca), and a minaret 43.5 m high. Although the mosque still has its 17th-century wooden frame, it has lost its triple-arched porch topped by three domes. This was destroyed by an explosion in 1919, when the building was used as an ammunition store for the Serbian army. The porch and the stone staircase leading to it were rebuilt in the 1960s-1970s, during which time the interior decoration, which had been damaged by a leak in the lead roofing of the dome, was also redone. The mosque was closed to worship from 1912 onwards, and was briefly converted into a museum in the 1970s to house many documents from the Ottoman period. The municipality wanted to reopen the museum after the Kosovo war. But faced with pressure from local imams and Turkey (which funded further restorations between 2007 and 2013), the mosque was finally reopened for worship in 2011.

This large building of the Ottoman period (Hamami i Gazi Mehmet pashës, Hamam Gazi Mehmed paše) is one of the two hammams which still remain in Prizren with the one which shelters the Archaeological Museum today. Created around 1563-1574, it is dominated in the north by the minaret of the Emin-Pasha mosque which was built in 1831. But it belonged then to the sharia (religious and commercial complex) of the Gazi-Mehmed-Pasha mosque located 150 m to the north-east. Used until the end of the nineteenth century as a public bath and place of socialization, the hammam is built according to the Byzantine technique of the partitioned apparatus, alternating stone and brick for better resistance. It is distinguished by its eleven openwork domes covered with lead, which let the daylight into the hot rooms of the baths, and by its two large domes mounted on drums covered with tiles, which are above the cold rooms. It is an çifte hamam, a "double hammam" in Turkish, with two parts separated by a partition, one for men and the other, here slightly smaller, for women. As part of the modernization of the city, all the stores and workshops that surrounded the building were destroyed in 1964. The hammam underwent two major renovations in the 1970s and 2000s, but unfortunately its interior walls have lost much of their plaster and paint. It now hosts temporary exhibitions or ephemeral markets.

With its futuristic cathedral-like main building, the Palace of Youth and Sports (Pallati i Rinisë dhe Sporteve, Palata omladine i sporta) is the most imposing complex inherited from the socialist period in Kosovo. Opened in 1977 as the Boro-and-Ramiz Center, it was conceived as a sports arena, a shopping center, a cultural center and a convention hall. After a fire in 2000, it was partially closed, but it remains one of the symbols of the modern city. It is located in the center, right next to another iconic monument of Pristina, the Newborn monument.

History

This is the largest public development project ever undertaken in Pristina. The Boro-and-Ramiz complex was built between 1975 and 1977 at the request of the residents, following a referendum held in the city in 1974. Among the seven projects proposed, the DOM agency from Sarajevo, led by the Yugoslav architect Živorad Janković, was chosen.

Boro and Ramiz. The complex was named after Boro Vukmirović (1912-1943) and Ramiz Sadiku (1915-1943). One Montenegrin, the other Albanian, these two partisans were shot together in Pristina by the Albanian fascists of Balli Kombëtar on April 10, 1943 in the city park (see description). After the war, their two first names became the symbols of the union between the Slavs (Serbs, Montenegrins...) and the Albanians of Kosovo. But since the conflict of 1998-1999, all monuments dedicated to the two resistance fighters were renamed or destroyed, Boro Vukmirović being considered an "enemy" who moreover "Serb" by the KLA. The complex was then renamed the Palace of Youth and Sports. Nowadays, however, a large part of Pristinians still call it Boro-Ramizi.

Živorad Janković. Architect of Yugoslav nationality (1924-1990) from Višegrad (Bosnia-Herzegovina), he is one of the great names of the modernist movement in Europe. Trained in Sarajevo and Belgrade, but also in the United States and Scandinavia, he was responsible for the planning of the modern part of Sarajevo and the commercial and sports centers Skenderija in Sarajevo, Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia) and Gripe in Split (Croatia). His main collaborator, Halid Muhasilović (born in Zagreb in 1934), also participated in the development of the Boro-and-Ramiz Center.

Project. The complex today covers 34,000^m2. Conceived as a sports, public, commercial and event center, it includes two buildings (see below), underground parking, and also integrates the Grand Hotel located at the bottom of the current Mother Teresa Boulevard. Two swimming pools and various other facilities planned to be added in the 1980s were not completed.

Fire. While it was spared by the war in Kosovo, the Boro-and-Ramiz Center suffered a fire on February 25, 2000. The fire, caused by a faulty electrical system, destroyed most of the southern wing of the main building. The roof of this wing was redone, but the interior remained abandoned due to a conflict between the former owner, the Pristina City Council, and the private organization that acquired the complex.

Visit

The complex is designed in the manner of the French "grands ensembles" of the 1970s, on a slab, a vast elevated space which is accessed from Luan Haradinaj Street by climbing the stairs located to the left of the Newborn monument. At the top of the stairs, you arrive on a large esplanade dominated by the main building, while on your right is the secondary building.

Main building. Reminiscent of a huge cathedral, it was named the Adem-Jashari Memorial in 2008, in honor of Adem Jashari (1955-1998), one of the founders of the KLA, officially recognized by the young state as a "hero of Kosovo. The building is 80 m deep (east-west axis) and 110 m in front, with the main entrance located to the east, behind the Newborn monument. It is distinguished above all by its huge black roof with two broken and asymmetrical slopes that are supported, in the central part, by two rows of eight rough concrete columns rising to 40 m (southern row) and 33 m (northern row) in height. Between the two columns of the main façade a large portrait of Adem Jashari has been installed. Inside, the different levels total a surface of 18,000^m2 with a wide central corridor serving two wings. The southern wing, the largest, had a sports arena with a capacity of 8,000 seats. However, it has been abandoned since the fire of February 2000 and is used as an improvised parking lot. The left wing houses a shopping mall (with a cinema), an auditorium and conference hall called the "Red Hall"(Salla e kuqe) and a sports hall with a capacity of 3,000 spectators. The latter is used by KB Pristina, the main basketball club of the capital.

Secondary building. Of a more modest architecture, it served as a youth center. Composed of three distinct volumes in raw concrete, it cannot be visited. It is now occupied by a nightclub, the Duplex, and by a private school, the American School of Kosova (kindergarten to high school).

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.