Janjevo

About 20km south of Prishtina is the town of Janjevo, traditionally populated by the Slavic Janjevci community which identifies itself as Croatian. The inhabitants are believed to be descended from traders from Dubrovnik who came to the region in the 14th century. But repression during the 1980s and 1990s followed by the 1999 conflict saw increasing migration to Croatia.

Today only a few hundred Janjevci remain in the town and surrounding villages, and a large proportion of the buildings lie empty and abandoned. The area has the feel of a ghost town – aided on the day I visited by a low lying mist and a lack of traffic on the streets. It’s eerie to see an entire community abandoned and left to decay, although some houses have been occupied by Roma or Albanians and there’s hope that more of the houses will be reoccupied in the future. There’s even a derelict medieval kulla (fortified house) which is crying out to be restored – we wandered into the ground floor (traditionally used as an animal shelter) to find it piled with rubbish.

Click on the images of Janjevo for larger versions.