Show on mapThe city of Gjakova is not as well known as Peja or Prizren, but is well worth visiting to see the partially restored old town and to visit the tekkes – religious buildings housing different Dervish sects.
New and old towns. Click on the image for more photos of Gjakova.
Initial impressions aren’t promising, as the bus drops you in the modern city which is a legacy of the city’s years under communism.
The central plaza is dominated by the immense, bright yellow Hotel Pashtrik, which is architecturally dubious but once I check in I find it offers fantastic views across the river, with the old town on one side and the colourful weekly market set up in the car park below.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the whole area of the old town used to be a bazaar with over 500 shops, the destination for caravans travelling from Albania, a centre for traders, artists, craftsmen. Today, hundreds of wooden shuttered shop fronts still line the narrow cobbled streets which are used mainly by horses and carts, but most of this is a reconstruction . The original wooden markets were destroyed by fire during 1999 as the entire city was targeted as an Albanian stronghold
(historically very few Serbs live in the city). As much as 90 million euros worth of property was destroyed in the fire. The restoration is impressive, but unfortunately very few of the traditional crafts are still undertaken here. Apart from a handful of carpenters, undertakers, tailors and a taxidermist the whole market appears to be selling cheap CDs and clothing imported from China.
The restoration was carried out by the National Institute for Monuments who are housed in a restored stone townhouse. I wander into their office and one of their employees offers to give me a tour as it’s a quiet day – they’re struggling to get funding for many of the projects they need to carry out. He shows me one of the old coaching inns (now a modern restaurant), and says that the owners simply ignore any planning or conservation laws that they’re tried to introduce. The old town has several restored kullas which have been tastefully converted to bars or hotels, but my guide isn‘t impressed with these either, saying they‘ve sacrificed the traditional materials and styles. Unfortunately the Institute of Monuments does not have the money to carry out its own restoration works- the best they can hope for now is stop the buildings falling into complete disrepair.
One project which is staying faithful to the city’s cultural heritage is the restoration of the Hadum mosque, where a team from Bosnia are restoring the frescoes and inscriptions. The mosque’s minaret was shot off during the war, but now this has been restored. Unfortunately nothing can be done to replace the 2000
religious texts which were lost when the adjoining library was set on fire (a further ten mosques were also damaged beyond repair in 1999).
Another major restoration is an Ottoman-era household which now houses the ethnographic museum. This used to belong to cotton and wool merchants – it has intricately carved wooden ceilings, porcelain water heaters and a Cardak, or glass walled veranda.
Gjakova is also home to several different tekkes, buildings which house different Dervish orders. Dervish followers subscribe to a form of Islam, but influenced by pre-existing Balkan traditions and beliefs. There is an emphasis on asceticism and mysticism, and each sect has its own rituals. Some estimates say they compose as many as 5% of the Muslim population in Kosovo.
The tekke I visit is home to the 400 years old Saadi Dervish order. Sheh Ruzdhi is spiritual leader of this group – it’s an inherited position and he is the 13th generation of his family to hold the title over the last 400 years. Today he is dressed in a tweed suit but during the group’s ceremonies he wears a woollen gown and a white cap. He shows me the main prayer room, octagonal in shape, decorated in white silk with various religious artefacts – ranging from a shield to animal bones – hanging on one wall. The order meet here for ritual prayer every Thursday.
Every January a ceremony takes place where the members enter a trance like state, accompanied by drumming, cymbals and guttural breathing. The ceremony lasts several hours, during which the Sheh directs the members in ritual dancing and prayer. At the climax of proceedings he passes a skewer through the cheeks and the stomachs of the members who he believes are ‘ready’. The dervish believe that their faith transcends physical pain, and the fact that the skewers do not draw any blood is proof of their complete commitment.
Sheh Ruzdhi tells me the tekkes were targeted frequently under communism, the buildings damaged and their artefacts stolen. They struggled to survive and such ceremonies would happen in secret. Now the order is undergoing something of a resurgence. It has several hundred members and has branches abroad, including the USA. Like other tekkes in Gjakova it attracts prestigious visitors from the government and the UN administration.
