Historic Places And Monuments

Graçanica is a town and settlement and municipality in the eastern part of Kosovo. The municipality of Graçanica is one of the three municipalities with a Serbian majority and borders with the municipalities of Prishtina and Lipjan. The nearest settlements are Hajvalia, Badoc, Kishnica, Llaplasella and Shushica.

Gracanica Monastery (also known as Holy Virgin’s temple) it was built by Serbian king

Stefan Milutin in 1321 The monastery it is part of Medieval Monuments of Kosovo listed by

UNESCO’s World Heritage List since 2006.

In 1840, the Albanians settled in Graçanicë, but after about 30 years they left the village and moved to Mramor. Only then did the Serbs start moving into the city.
At that time, when there were no Serbs in the country, the Serbs from the surrounding villages participated in the Serbian Orthodox services in the monastery of Graçanica.
In 1872 or 1874 a secular primary school was opened and in the early 1860s a new chapel was built. In the 1880s, the Graçanica school was considered one of the best in the rural area.

Population in Graçanica:

Serbian: 67.53 %
Albanians: 23.17%
Rome, Ashkali: 8%
Turkish: 0.14 %
Bosnian: 0.14%
Other: 1%.

The Monumental Complex of the Albanian League of Prizren is a museum complex and cultural heritage monument located in the historic city of Prizren, Kosovo.
The Complex is now home to photographs, documents, objects, clothings and other cultural artifacts that date from the time of the League of Prizren.
The Monumental Complex of the Albanian League of Prizren is an urbanistic and architectural ensemble, geographically located in the old city centre, with special cultural, historical, societal and environmental values. The complex was shaped with the construction of the Gazi Mehmet Pasha’s Mosque, and around it, other buildings were developed, such as the League Building, the Medrese (School), Library, Turbe and residential buildings, which are mainly spread through the south-western area of the Gazi Mehmed Pasha’s Complex, within which we have the Memorial Complex of the Prizren League.

The Museum Complex of the Prizren League is made of three sectors:

– The Albanian League of Prizren Residence, a historical sector, with the history of the League, featuring written documents, old weapons;

-The Medrese, in ground floor, characteristic adornments from Albanian-inhabited areas; and

-The upper floor of Medrese, featuring paintings of the personalities of the Albanian League of Prizren.

The Adem Jashari Memorial Complex, also known as the Jashari Neighborhood Memorial Complex, is a monument of this history located in Prekaz, Skenderaj. This monument is of the “architectural” category.
The “Adem Jashari” Memorial Complex is located in Prekaz, where their houses have been transformed into a museum, where all the graves that fell in the Jashari family’s war can be found. The memory of Adem Jashari has its home in the one where Adem Jashari and more than 60 other people were killed in the attack in Prekaz (1998).
Taking into account the need to protect this area of special interest, which has anthropological, anthropological, historical and cultural importance. The graves of Shaban, Hamëzi and Adem are guarded by the Kosovo Security Force.

In Prekaz, in the Jasharaj cemetery, there are also the towers from which the heroic war took place in 1998. Since the end of the war, more than 20 million visitors have visited this historic place.
From the fierce fighting that took place three days in a row with the Serbian police and military forces, together with the KLA commander Adem Jashari, 20 members of his family were killed.

Xhevat Berisha was a distinguished activist of the national issue. Albanian martyr of the Kosovo War. He holds the title “Hero of Kosovo”.
In 1997, Xhevat Berisha became part of the first KLA Unit for Prizren. On February 26, 1998, he was arrested by the Serbian police.
After leaving prison, Xhevati joined the “Petriti” KLA Unit, which operated in the villages of Vrrin.
With the formation of the KLA Headquarters for Prizren, Xhevati was appointed responsible for Intelligence and Counterintelligence (ZKZ). It was on the front lines in all the battles that took place.
Xhevat Berisha gave his life, fighting heroically on the front line in the village of Lez. This was one of the biggest battles of the KLA, a good initiative for the liberation of Kosovo.
On June 10, 2003, on the anniversary of the Albanian League of Prizren, he was immortalized in the statue erected in the center of Prizren, in the “Shatërvan” square.
The school in the neighborhood where he lived and worked now bears the name of the Hero of Kosovo, Xhevat Berisha.

Xhevat Berisha was a distinguished activist of the national issue. Albanian martyr of the Kosovo War. He holds the title “Hero of Kosovo”.
In 1997, Xhevat Berisha became part of the first KLA Unit for Prizren. On February 26, 1998, he was arrested by the Serbian police.
After leaving prison, Xhevati joined the “Petriti” KLA Unit, which operated in the villages of Vrrin.
With the formation of the KLA Headquarters for Prizren, Xhevati was appointed responsible for Intelligence and Counterintelligence (ZKZ). It was on the front lines in all the battles that took place.
Xhevat Berisha gave his life, fighting heroically on the front line in the village of Lez. This was one of the biggest battles of the KLA, a good initiative for the liberation of Kosovo.
On June 10, 2003, on the anniversary of the Albanian League of Prizren, he was immortalized in the statue erected in the center of Prizren, in the “Shatërvan” square.
The school in the neighborhood where he lived and worked now bears the name of the Hero of Kosovo, Xhevat Berisha.

In a colossal slab located in this complex, there are 2184 KLA war martyrs’ engraved names on it. This complex radiates timeless memory for the best boys and girls of the Albanian nation, a memory that is associated with the highest respect for those who sacrificed themselves for freedom. This complex started to be constructed in 2004.
Martyrs of the Nation, of the Municipality of Klina, Mujë Krasniqi, Arben Haliti, Ali Krasniqi, Gani Zogaj and Xhavit Kamberaj, the biggest and brightest figures of the KLA war, to be reburied in the Memorial Complex in Morin.
The National Martyrs’ Memorial Complex was inaugurated, where the Commanders of the Operational Area of Drenica, Mujë Krasniqi, Ilaz Kodra, Abendin Rexha, were reburied together with the other martyrs.
The process of exhuming the martyrs began on June 19 and ended on July 31, 2018, where in the first phase 112 remains of the martyrs were exhumed from the Polish cemetery and 101 of them were reburied in Marine.
In the second phase, the bodies of 53 martyrs from the villages of Drenas and Skenderaj were exhumed and reburied in the Memorial Complex in Marina.

Widely known simply as Skanderbeg, was a fifteenth-century Albanian nobleman. Sultan Murad II took him hostage in 1423 and he fought for the Ottoman Empire during the subsequent twenty years. In 1443, he deserted and became the ruler of Krujë. He organized local leaders, uniting their forces in war against the Ottomans. Skanderbeg’s first victory against the Ottomans in 1444 marked the beginning of more than 20 years of war with them An Albanian nobleman and military commander, Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg is known for having led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in present-day Albania. The statue in Pristina’s main square is a statement of Kosovo’s shared cultural identity and heritage with Albania. The statue of Skanderbeg is a replica of that in Kruja and, as such, requires a mountainous setting. While most artists impose on the visitor a single point from which the statue must be viewed, observed from the ground level, it renders visible the disproportionate relationship between the horse and Skanderbeg. Sculpted by Janaq Paço, the statue was unveiled in 2001.
Also Albania considers Skanderbeg as its national hero, reason enough to give his equestrian statue a prominent place in its capital, Tirana.

A Peace Nobelist of Albanian descent, Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun and missionary. Sculpted in bronze, the Mother Teresa statue was unveiled in Pristina’s main square named after her in 2002. The statue was sculpted by a trio of sculptors Vasiljev Nini, Sadik Spahiu and Vasil Raka and commissioned by the Gojçaj brothers, New York-based Albanian diaspora. The statue deploys Christian iconography and is meant to communicate Mother Teresa’s weltschmerz, while the figure of the child emerging from her drapery represents the less fortunate of the world. Upon abandoning the Sisters of Loreto order, Mother Teresa was known for her universalism, becoming the mother of the world who dedicated herself entirely to the poor and served in Calcutta, India most of her life.
Mother Teresa received several honours, including the 1962 Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize and the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize. She was canonised on 4 September 2016, and the anniversary of her death (5 September) is her feast day. A controversial figure during her life and after her death, Mother Teresa was admired by many for her charitable work.

In Pristina, against the brutalist architecture stands Bill Clinton waving, a three-metre statue sculpted in a realist style by Izeir Mustafa. Greatly respected among the Albanian community, the former U.S. president Bill Clinton is perceived as having played a key role in setting in motion the 1999 NATO intervention against the Milosević regime. Upon the war’s end, many streets and boulevards in Kosovo carry his name. A 10-foot-high (3.0 m) statue of Clinton was unveiled on the boulevard on 1 November 2009was commissioned by “Friends of America, Friends of Bill Clinton”, an organization that nurtures amicable relations between Kosovo and the United States.

Bill Clinton Boulevard is a boulevard located in Pristina, Kosovo. Following the Kosovo War of 1998 to 1999, Albanians in Kosovo wanted to thank former U.S. President Bill Clinton for his help in their struggle with the government of Yugoslavia.
Elsewhere in Pristina, another street has also been named after U.S. President George W. Bush. In addition, several cities in Kosovo, including Prizren, have streets named after President Woodrow Wilson.

Prizren is also called the historical capital of Kosovo. This is because it contains a significant number of historical monuments that contain many years of history of the Albanian people.

-The connection of Prizren – lies at the most delicate point of the city’s urban space, surrounded by Lumbardhi, the Marash Complex and the castle houses. In addition to the values of material culture, the complex has a great historical importance.

-Prizren Castle – located above the city on the high river terrace, which dominates the entire Lumbardhi gorge and the Prizren plain, on an area of 15,776 square meters. The exact time of the construction is not known.

-Hamam of Gazi Mehmet Pasha – located in the urban center of the city, belonging to the Arasta complex. It was built in 1573/74, at the time when Mehmet Pasha built his mosque nearby. The hammam is considered one of the largest in the Balkans and is divided into two parts, for men and women.

-Fountain’s croe – comes from the Persian word: croe with many streams. It is located in the heart of the city center of Prizren and is supposed to be the oldest in the city.

Gjakova as a city with a centuries-old ancient history of which many objects and artefacts have remained that show the life that took place in this city.
The Tower of Abdullah Pasha Dreni, the Mosque of Hadum Aga, the Hani i Haraçi, the Ethnographic Museum, the Kusari Cave, the Grand Bazaar are just some of the cultural and historical monuments that add beauty to the city of Gjakova.

-The Grand Bazaar, also known as the Old Bazaar in Gjakovë, is the oldest bazaar in Kosovo. Mahalla e Hadum, the historical quarter where it is located, is also home to the city’s oldest mosque, (Hadum Mosque) which dates back to the 15th century. The old bazaar was burned and destroyed and then rebuilt after suffering damage during the 1999 war.

-Cave of Kusari
Kusari Cave is one of the most special destinations in Kosovo. This cave is located 1 km from the village of Kusar in Gjakovë and is located in a mountainous terrain of the Pashtriku Mountains.
Kusari Cave is characterized by a rocky and green terrain, to which visitors can walk up to its interior and enjoy the enchanting green views that this cave offers to its many visitors.