Show on mapOf all the cities in Kosovo, Prizren is the most likely to one day rival those of other Balkan countries as a tourist destination, with a picturesque setting on the river Bistrica just below the mountainous Dragash region.
Prizren at dusk. Click the image to see more photos of the city.
The city has some of the country’s most impressive cultural heritage with 16th century bridges, hamman and mosques. It’s already a popular holiday destination for Kosovans – I visited at the start of the May day holidays and the city centre was crowded with young people and families spilling out into the streets from bars and restaurants.
But there’s still a very long way to go to catch up with the region’s better known tourist hotspots. The centre is in need of regeneration. Like much of Kosovo it’s in the middle of a construction boom, the road into the city lined with small scale quarries and building depots selling bricks and breeze blocks. Several buildings in the centre are being renovated or even demolished, but there’s no sense of a larger planning scheme and some of the historic buildings are being destroyed by the wrecking balls. When I visited the city’s best known hotel, Theranda, was closed for refurbishment and the only alternative in the centre was of the concrete socialist tower block variety, with 1970’s décor (leather padded doors), run-down and over-priced. The traffic around the centre was clogged up, despite the efforts of the UN administration to impose a one-way system.
The city’s historical buildings comprise of some remnants from Serbia’s medieval empire but by the far the bigger influence is the Ottoman Empire, who had some presence in the city from the 15th century until the early 20th century. Under the Ottomans the city was a major provincial capital and trading centre. It was renowned for crafts such as leatherworking and filigree – even today a handful of silver filigree jewellers have survived along one of the main roads into the city. Turkish is still an official language and can be seen on street signs alongside Albanian and Serbian.
The centre is divided by the river with a series of arched stone bridges linking the two sides. The most striking building on the southern side is the Sinan Pasha mosque. On the northern side is the 16th century Gazi Mehmet Pasha Turkish baths, which have been restored and are now used as an exhibition centre. There’s a pleasant river walk up to the Maskut Pasha mosque which has a tiny, tranquil garden. Outside the mosque stands an enormous oriental Marash tree, with a 2 meter trunk.
The city is also known as the home of the League of Prizren, a group of Muslim Albanian nationalists who rose to prominence at the latter end of the 19th century. The city had become home to Albanian refugees expelled from the expanding Serbian empire, and the Albanians feared Prizren could be next in Serbia‘s sights as the Ottoman empire weakened. Initially they formed as a pressure group to lobby the great European powers for some form of Albanian autonomy, and even had begrudging support from the Ottomans. But when diplomacy failed to work they resorted to arms and came to be seen as a threat to the Sultan. By 1881 its leaders had been killed or imprisoned.
The formation of the league is generally seen as the starting point for modern Albanian nationalism and many towns in Kosovo now celebrate their links with the league. The buildings where they met – a series of low roofed houses around a courtyard – now house a museum complex with a collection of paintings and sculptures depicting the Albanian national struggle.
It’s possible to walk to the fortress on the hill to the south of the town for stunning views across the region. Along the path lies a neighbourhood of abandoned Serb houses. Although the city largely escaped damage during the 1999 war, the Serb community here suffered reprisal attacks by returning refugees at the end of the conflict and was one of the worst affected areas in the 2004 riots. Now a cluster of streets on the steep climb lie behind barbed wire, abandoned, some possessions still scattered in the gardens. NATO KFOR troops stand watch from a barracks to prevent further damage and looting, but it’s difficult to imagine this ghost town will ever again be a thriving community.
Click here to see more images of Prizren.
