OLD SHARIA

This Ottoman-period district (Çarshia e vjetër, Stara Čaršija) is often called the "market district" or "city bazaar" for tourists. But a charchia is more than that. It is a typical Ottoman Balkan urbanistic complex that mixes the sacred and the profane. Designed around the Bajrakli Mosque, the Peja/Peć sharia included fountains, Koranic schools, workshops and caravanserais. Having become dilapidated, and considered as the symbol of a bygone era, the sharia and its 940 shops were destroyed by the Italian occupiers in 1943, then by the Yugoslav army and the Albanian nationalists in 1999. It is therefore difficult to imagine the activity that reigned here in the 19th century, when the city attracted merchants from Dubrovnik and Thessaloniki. The old charchia has been restored and, since 2018, merchants have returned to the area. These are no longer the craftsmen who used to group together by specialty in each street (blacksmiths, tinsmiths, tanners, jewelers, etc.), but mostly shops selling imported clothing and jewelry. Ramiz Sadiku Street, however, retains the imprint of the past with its two-storey houses with corbelling and latticework on the windows. There are also a few jewellers who still practice the art of filigree (silver filaments). If the old charchia remains the soul of Peja/Peć, it must now attract more cafes and restaurants that can liven up its streets and alleys a bit in the evening.