Medieval Monuments in Kosovo

Me and my cabbie were still in Serbia. We had driven from Novi Pazar, a Muslim town in Serbia, to Raška and were now approaching the border into Kosovo. It was here that I noticed a weird info sign for four orthodox churches.

Now, you need to know that Serbia has a) plenty of orthodox churches and b) plenty of signs advertising these churches along the roads. But this sign was different, as it didn't advertise the local village church or a nearby monastery. Instead, it was promoting churches more than 100km away, i.e. not in Serbia proper. It took me a little while to process: They were referring to the churches included in this inscription. Turns out, these are the holiest of holy churches for Serbians and they are deeply tied into the founding myth of Serbia.

The Serbian Empire's core in medieval times was Kosovo. If you travel in Southern Serbia you quickly understand why: Southern Serbia is quite hilly (not great for agriculture) while Kosovo is flat and way better suited for large scale agriculture. The German historic name for Kosovo is Amselfeld (field of blackbirds) gives you an idea. It was also in Kosovo that the Battle of Kosovo took place against the rising Ottoman Empire in 1389.

Eventually, though, the Ottomans conquered Kosovo. Over the centuries a migration of Serbs (Christians) North and Muslims South took place. For roughly 200-300 years Kosovo has been majority Kosovo Albanian. In 1991, 80% of …

I honestly expected quite a bit of this site. Afterall these monasteries are widely regarded as some of the best orthodox works. I really hoped I wouldn't find some minor remains or worse yet repainted frescos.

I was very pleasantly surprised. These monasteries rank among the most beautifull I've ever seen. They are surprisingly monumental, with high ceilings; and they're covered in magnificent frescos. The structure IS also quite particular, with high square columns used as canvases. If I had to note a downside is that they feel somewhat like a testament to the past and not part of a living tradition. The churches are somewhat cold, with no incense and no candles. 

Now onto the specifics. I was Lucky to visit all 4 locations of the site, though I could not enter the churches in Prizren. Here's my overview of them:

Gračanica: It's sits just un the outskirts if Pristina. you'll know you're arriving when you start seeing serbian flags. I didn't check, but It very much looked like there was an important serbian community centered around the monastery. Here we encountered one of the most shocking side about visiting this site. All these churches are walled with barbed wire. In 2014 hundreds of monasteries, including some in this site, were burned. Since then they're all protected, mainly by the KFOR. Gračanica turned out to be a beautifull Monastery.

Prizren: as notes I did not visit the interior of Prizren's churches (which were burned). The …

I visited the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo last week while staying in Pristina. I only had enough time to see Gracanica Monastery, but I very much enjoyed my time there.

The monastery is a lot like other medieval Orthodox Churches on the UNESCO list, but I thought the frescoes inside the church were especially vibrant.

I did not have a hard time getting there. I read online that the easiest way from Pristina to Grananica was to get a taxi arranged by your hostel or hotel. It cost me 15 euros for a taxi there and bring me back to the city.

We visited the Kosovo Monasteries at Pec and Decani in June 2017. In fact, in what was possibly an excess of enthusiasm for Mediaeval Serbian monasteries, we took in consecutively, in under 24 hours, the Monastery at Studenica and those at Djurdjevi Stupovi and Sopocani before driving south into Kosovo from Montenegro on the mountain road over from Rozaje. The drive from Sopocani to the monastery at Pec took around 3 hours including 2 frontier crossings.

Pec (Peja) is a surprisingly busy town with a chaotic “anything goes” atmosphere and building taking place everywhere – it isn’t clear how “controlled” all this activity is, and neither is the nature of its economic underpinning! Kosovo has the reputation of being something of a mafia state based on smuggling of goods, narcotics and people with “construction” being a good money laundering method - See . The monastery lies to the west of the town at the entrance to the Rugova Gorge and, as we approached the town, it was obvious where we needed to be - unfortunately the main road came to a dead end at a square, there were no signs for the Monastery and the nearby “Tourist Office” was closed for “Brek”! A taxi driver wouldn’t assist us unless we took him to get there but the receptionist in the nearby main hotel provided a useful sketch map! The monastery at the moment is situated at the very end of building developments extending West from Pecs – it must …

I visited the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo in April 2016. In particular, I visited the Patriarchate of Pec Monastery.

It is a bit confusing because there are no signs, and the monastery is walled off like a military fortress. There is a gate with a security officer you have to go through to get to the site, and you have to present your passport to get through.

Once pass the gate it was very straight forward. Just parked my car and walked around the grounds.

Read more about the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo on my website.

I visited this WHS in March 2016. Out of the 4 sites inscribed the easiest to visit and the only ones open to visitors are the monasteries of Decani and Gracanica. Decani is closer to Prizren while Gracanica is very close to the capital Pristina. Having read that the easiest way to visit Kosovo overland is through Macedonia, I decided to cross the border from Skopje to Pristina and it was pretty straighforward. Having a GPS navigator is only necessary to find Gracanice as there are no road signs whatsoever. There is ample space to park in front of the monastery walls just to the side of the main road in Gracanice. The Serbian flags are no longer paraded as was the case when I passed through the Srpska Republic last year. The first surprise is the tranquil atmosphere as you step inside the courtyard and leave the traffic behind you. The few nuns present were going about their lives and the younger ones in the monastery gift shop were quite friendly and curious even though they spoke no English. When I visited the Gracanica monastery, a baptism ceremony was about to finish so I was lucky to be able to view some of the magnificent old frescoes all lit up even if for a few moments. The 4 columns supporting the main dome are beautifully decorated and the Medieval frescoes pretty much cover all the walls. There was a priest or brother whose main purpose was to make sure …

Basing myself in Kosovo’s capital Pristina, I visited 2 out of the 4 locations that comprise the Medieval Monuments in Kosovo: Gracanica Monastery and Prizren's Our Lady of Ljeviš church. They are considered ‘In Danger’ since 2006 as they need “urgent conservation work” and safeguarding, due to the post-conflict situation which saw this Serbian WHS end up on the territory of the partially recognised state of Kosovo.

In the months prior to this trip, I had scoured the Internet for information on how to reach the monastery of Gracanica. It lies just 10 kilometers from Pristina, but in a Serb enclave whose surroundings pretend it does not exist. I was almost deterred by the transport issues described in the Lonely Planet chapter on Kosovo (“Rumours abound that bus drivers won’t let you on or off if you tell them where you’re going”) and the stories that run on Tripadvisor about encountering “unwelcoming nuns” at the monastery itself.

In reality, it took me a lot of effort and time (2 hours) to get there. But that had more to do with Pristina’s complex public transport system than with the sensitivity of my destination. The networks of city buses and regional buses are not connected, you have to walk several hundred meters between them and it was a mystery to me which bus would stop where. Eventually, I ended up on a road behind the Albi Mall on the outskirts of the city, where buses to Gjilan come through that …

Well known but currently a bit difficult to visit. All monuments are protected either by KFOR soldiers (Gracanica, Pec, Vysoki Decani) or Albanian-Kosovian policeman (Prizren). The road are completely unmarked (Serbian signs were removed) but you can ask people how to get there. First three sights are living monasteries under KFOR protection but they can be visited (secirity check necessary) while Prizren is currently unable to see from inside.

From all of those churches my favorite one would definitely be Our Lady of Ljeviš. It is an outstanding example of late byzantine architecture. Throughout its long history it was a holly place for Christians and Muslims, who converted it during the Ottoman rule and named Friday Mosque (al-jumʿa xhamia in Arabic). This name is still in use among Muslim Albanians in the city of Prizren.

Unfortunately the devastation of the paintings inside the church - initiated during Ottoman times - reached its peak during the march 2004 riots. The restoration of the site is still in progress.

This is probably one of the few WHS where you have to go through military checkpoints (if they even let you) and you'll have several guns and a tank pointing at you before you enter; this place has a rich history with maybe not such a good location. The church looks beautiful on the outside with two different types of local stones. The walls and ceilings inside are covered with Byzantine paintings. There are about 30 monks living inside the monastery and their main task all day is praying. If you are lucky an English-speaking monk will open the church for you and will answer your questions. Father Ezekial speaks very good English, so if you go it might be worth asking for him. He was able to tell us about the history of the Serbian Orthodox church, the history of the monastery, daily life as a monk, and even some surprises: during the war in Kosovo, the (Serbian) monks at Decani protected Alabanian Kosovar Moslems by allowing them to hide in the Monastery.

If you like this monastery you should definitely head over to the Patriarchate monastery near Peja: The paintings there are in even better shape and the Monastery is more important (in the Serbian Orthodox Church) than the Decani monastery.

The extension of this site to cover other medieval monuments in Kosovo makes good sense from a number of angles. Whatever the political considerations, these other sites probably deserved to be listed from the outset and Gracanica, the only one I can actually speak of, struck me as World Heritage material as soon as I saw it. While Gracanica town, with its history of division, is rather a sad place, the walled monastic enclosure could be in a different country and you have to remind yourself, if you really must, that there is an armoured car - there more for the presence than anything else - outside the gate.

The church is very imposing from the outside but appears small and more personal from within. The frescoes - even including one of the foundation charter - are as magnificent as the building. This is one of the great sights of the Balkans and now has the world status it deserves.