Discovering Kosovo
When you come to Kosovo everyone talks about the lively cafes and nightlife or maybe the pristine mountains and hiking. Or maybe even a film or music festival. Hardly anyone talks about the rich multicultural heritage from the ancient churches and centuries old mosques to the monuments to more recent historical events. Coming to Kosovo is being able to visit the history of the Balkans in one spot. I traveled with Balkan Natural Adventures to get the full experience.
Near Prishtina is a triangle of historical monuments that connect the ancient past to the devastating recent war. Kosovo is the only place outside of Turkey where an Ottoman Sultan is buried. The first one, the tomb of Sultan Murad who came to this Kosovo and fought the combined Christian armies who gathered under under Prince Lazar. Both were killed in the 1389 battle but the Ottomans won the battle and eventually Kosovo. Visit the Sultan’s tomb run by the same family since the 1700s. The complex also includes a museum about the battle.
The battle’s legacy is brought to 1989 at Gazimestan the infamous place where Slobodan Milosević began his bloody reign, destroying the former Yugoslavia. Millions were murdered and displaced over the course of the ’90s wars that raged in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Millions of Kosovars became refugees and many were murdered and raped. Over 2,000 are still missing.
In the North, Mitrovica, the last divided city in Europe is a legacy of the most recent wars. The Peace Bridge brings both halves together. The city remains the home of the Trepča mines where the Romans first searched for silver. You can, safely, compare macchiatos from the north (Serbian) and south (Albanian) and visit the multiethnic Bosna Mahalla where all communities live and work together.
Prizren, in the south, is the former capital of Kosovo that is still a religious center for all three Abrahamic faiths. How about the remarkable madrassa in the center with a Star of David gracing it’s welcoming arch. It’s there because a local Jewish family donated the money to build school for young muslims. Soon there will be a new museum to celebrate the Jewish community that once thrived in the city.
One thousand year old Catholic and Orthodox churches still dot the city while 500 year old mosques squeeze in between. The old Ottoman houses and bridges are tucked under a mountain topped with an old stone Ottoman fortress, known as the Kale (the word for fortress in Turkish) , that still watches the town. You can also see the beautifully preserved Hamam in the city center.
Going a little further up head to Rahovec and drink wine from vineyards that have been run by the same families since at least the 1600s. Here you get to really live history. The wines from Kosovo are some of the best in the Balkans. The secret lies in the ancient Vardar sea that once covered the entire country over 300,000 years ago. The fossilized shells left behind help enrich the soil on these rolling hills making it perfect for growing a wide variety of grapes. Along with the nearly 300 days of sunshine a year. Wine from this region is sold globally.
Have you seen an original Ottoman marketplace? Probably not because the only one left is in Gjakova. During the Ottoman period this town was a trading hotspot. Visit the old Çarshia still functional and filled with cobblestone streets and surrounded by Ottoman houses. Eat at a Hani, a travellers guesthouse, where the traders used to stop for a meal and rest before heading off to Belgrade or Sarajevo carrying goods from Istanbul.
In Dečan the amazingly preserved monastery still lives. Monks continue the traditions going back to the founding in the middle ages. St. Jelena, former Empress of Bulgaria, is buried there and the interior of the church still has some of the most well-preserved medieval frescoes in the Orthodox world. This medieval wonder still lives and thrives in Kosovo.
Go further west to the mountain city of Peja and visit another living monastery, the ancient Patriarchate of Peć. It is the seat of Orthodox Christianity and all of the ancient Fathers of the Church are buried here. It is actually a complex of churches and a living monastery where monks and nuns carry out their religious lives much as has been since the medieval Serbian Patriarchs have done.
There is no place in the former Yugoslavia with the variety of cultural and historical artefacts, that truly represent the multiethnicity of the region. Travelling to Kosovo is so much more than a trip to the mountains or a party in the capital. Ultimately, if you really want to know the Balkans fully, then you can’t not come to Kosovo.