Banjska Monastery in Kosovo and Metohija

Another meaningful monastery in Kosovo and Metohija is the Banjska Monastery near Zvečan a little town not far away from Kosovska Mitrovica and near the river Banjska.

Most of the monasteries of Northern Kosovo ( I wrote already about another North Kosovo Monastery: Socanica) are save and do not need military protection, because the main population in the area is represented by Serbs.
However it's very important to preserve the monasteries and to keep the Serb population in the Holy Christian land of Kosovo and Metohija, because, as emphasize Bishop Artemije:

"As long as we are physically present in Kosovo, it will remain ours. If, God forbid, we should disappear from this region, Kosovo would not be Serb even if it remains within the borders of Serbia. We don't need Kosovo without Serbs. Therefore, we must persist and persevere in hope and salvation and remain in our land. And those of us who were forced to leave from Kosovo and Metohija must return as soon as possible so that God can administer to our entire people"

This monastery with the St. Stephen's Church was built between 1313 and 1317 and was founded by the Serb King Stefan Uroš II Milutin, one of the most powerful Balkan rulers of the period and one of the most powerful rulers of the entire Nemanjić dynasty.
King Milutin built the church as his burial place and it is there that he was first laid to rest. However, following the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 his body was moved to Trepča (also near Kosvoska Mitrovica) and then in 1460 to Sofia, where it lies today in the Alexander Nevski Church.

 

The monumental building with its church, the library, the monks' quarters and the "imperial palace" began to fall into disrepair very early. At the beginning of the 15th century, a fire destroyed the library and in the second half of the same century the monastery was probably abandoned. 

So its formerly style similar to Studenica (Raska School) is not anymore recognizable.

Kuprešić, an author writing about his travels, mentions that the monastery was razed to the ground in the 16th century on the orders of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, because it served as a shelter for Christians who had fled Turkish slavery. There the Turks used it as a mosque.

 

The facade decoration was made in chess-board style with different colored marble stones. The Romanesque tradition is enforced in combination of rich architectural encrusted fragments of the portal termination, doors and windows consoles. 

Churche facades in marble where held only for Kings, and Milutin wanted to emphasize this. 

 

In the 19th century the almost totally demolished Church of Banjska Monastery was used as a mosque where Islamic prayers were performed until the First World War. Architect Dj. Boskovic took some preservation and reconstruction works in 1938.

In the 1990's some renovation works were started and in 2004 when a Liturgy was held by Patriarch Pavle and Clergy accompanied with many faithful people. Since then it's a working monastery again and a monastic brotherhood moved in  and was consecrated by Bishop Artemije (Radosavljevic) of Raska and Prizren with the clergy and monks of the Diocese of Raska and Prizren.

 

The church is an one nave basilica covered by a blind vault. 

The eastern semicircular apse was monumental and the western entrance (narthex) to the church was built in accordance to the Raska ecclesiastical style of monuments with two large towers.

The katholikon served as exemple for later built monasteries in the surrounding like Visok Decani and Sveti Arhangel and also for later churches of the moravian school.

The choice for a Raska School Style architecture in Banjska shows how the Nemanjic Family was closed to tradition (King Milutin experimented with several styles for other monasteries, but for his burrial site he wanted a clean traditional Raska School exemple).

Here the icon of King Milutin as a saint

Banjska Monastery was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia.

A good way to visit this monastery (and some of the most beautiful monastery of Kosovo and Metohija) is the 7-days tour through Kosovo and Metohija with "Spiritualserbia" , Nemanja's guided tours with focus on religion, history and architecture.

 This Photo by Peter Vanderbiesen

Socanica Monastery in Kosovo and Metohija

 

In the northern part of Kosovo and Metohija, not far from the way from Raska to Kosovoska Mitrovica lays the peaceful monastery Socanica.

 the bell tower and the church

The entrance of the church

There aren’t hardly written things about the beginning of this monastery, only from a grave we know that around 1643 a priest Stefan was burried here and it looks that it then already was a monastery. The baptistery was build in 1862 on the bottom of the old distroyed church which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

 the candleholder outside the church

It’s not know when that church was build or when the Turks destroyed it, there are only signs that a lot of people always brought Slava cakes and hold gatherings, and confirm so an interrupted veneration of the church over the entire time.

the guesthouse (конак)

A story says, that a municipal forest ranger and member of the Socanica community and also patron and builder of the todays temple was Cirko Terzic of Brzanca. 

 From some writings it’s also known that the temple was build bigger than the Turks would have alowded so that the members of the church council had to stay in prison for an entire year and Cirko Terzic, seen as the responsible for that was killed.

The monks that live today in the monastery keep the entire monastery going and here I would like to share a couple of pictures from my visit at the monastery. 

 

We had coffee, juice, selfmade cakes (by the monks) and rakija on the terasse of the guesthouse in a very pleasant atmosphere and we had a very nice talk with the monks that have become good friends of my friends in Zvecan.

What fascinated me a lot is the long table in the garden. It can seat 130 - 140 people and it's located under trees with view to the valley.
The monastery has a beautiful website (in serbian) here: www.manastirsocanica.com

Kosovska Mitrovica

 Streets of Northern Mitrovica

I really like Kosovska Mitrovica, but it's rather difficult to write about it. I spent a very nice time in the northern part of the city, and I knew it would not be enough just to show you some pictures and to write how sad that the city is one of the last devided cities in Europe and that crazy thing happened and happens there. So I tried to put some hisotrical facts together to help the understanding of the odd situation now and to put my pictures in a different angle.


The city, that is one of the oldest settlements of Kosovo and Metohija (in those times the region belonged to Raska) was named after Saint Demetrius (Dimitrie Solunski with patron day on November 8th called Mitrovdan) in the 14th century and a church dedicated to him was built.

Old postcard showing a street in Kosovska Mitrovica

Under Ottoman rule (that lasted from 1455 – 1912) the city became a lively industrial city (lead was discovered and mines were opened).

The Serb population never accepted Ottoman rule and often rose against the foreign regimen. The Albanian population didn’t resist against Ottoman rule and accepted easily the muslim religion. Kosovo was temporarily occupied by Austrian forces during the Great War of 1683–1699, but the Ottomans re-established their rule of the region. In 1766 the Ottomans abolished the Patriarchate of Pec and weakened the position of Christians by inducing a taxation of non-Muslims.

View of Mitrovica from the hill arriving from Zvecan

Changment arrived after the Congress of Berlin (1878) when Serbia and Montenegro got ist independence, Mitrovica stayed under Ottoman rule (as a region of Sandzak) but was occupied by Austrian forces. After the first Balkan War in 1913, Mitrovica was put under the Kingdom of Serbia  and after 1918 under the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs later (1929) Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

The main street in Mitrovica

Even during communist Yugoslavia there were constant ethnic tensions between Albanian and Serbs and another problem was an unclear strategy how to handle the problem. So from trying to get rid of Albanians (after 1953 Josip Broz Tito reached an agreement with Turkey to push Yugoslavian Albanians to declare themself Turks and to leave for Turkey) to giving Albanians more rights and freedom (University in Pristina was founded to assure Albanians higher education and after 1974 the Socialist Autonomes province of Kosovo received more power) everything was tried to solve the constant ethnic problems.

Inter-ethnic tensions continued to worsen in Kosovo throughout the 1980's. A high birth-rate in Albanian community and departing and diminuishing Serbian population changed the demography of the province and lead so to Milosevic’s 1989 reaction to reduce Kosovo’s special autonomy status in Serbia. Kosovo Albanians reacted with parallel structure (e.g. n medicine, education, taxations).

Of course such eternally not solved tensions could not lead to anything good. Violent Guerilla groups (KLA), armed Serbian and Yugolsavian security forces and desinteresse by the international community resulted in a ugly War with its peak in NATO bombing of 1999, leaving the province in a complete chaos and a fertile place for lies, crimes and  more tensions.

View to the Southern part of the city

An old building from communist time

Kosovska Mitrovica was so divided in a Southern half (populated completely by ethnic Alanians, ca. 60'000 inhabitants) and a Northern part (populated by  mostly Serbs, 13'000,  plus other ethnic minorities like Muslims by Nationality, Turks and Roma.

The bridge that instead of connecting is dividing the city

 

The City is since then divided by 2 bridges (and a little footbridge)  and the border is made by the river Ibar. The city and the borders are supervised by KFOR-troups.

However all that supervising was not really able to prevent clashes or attackes, and from all sides the KFOR is more seen as an intruder or occupator.

The new church for Sveti Dimitrije

The old church devoted to Saint Demetrius (from 14th century) that gave the city its name, came to lay in the Albanian part of the city.  Due to riots (the major ones in 2004) it became impossible to reach the church for orthodox believers.  As a surrogate a new church was built in 2005 on the hill over the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica and was dedicated to Saint Demetrius.

Shrine dedicated to the Serb and Albanian partisans 

in the 1941–1945 war from 1973 by Bogdan Bogdanovic

All the idustry that made Mitrovica a good funtioning city in the past was shut down because of the war and the tensions in the area. Today there is hardly a branch of industry working. Even electricity and water is not always available, not because it would be impossible to supply, but because the political wish is not present. 
The region is in a rather dead end situation that must be curbed by investments. But I would also say for that: even if there are attempts and studies made to solve the difficult ecconomic situation, it will not work, until the political wish on all sides is ripe.

Apart from the natural division created by the Ibar, North Mitrovica itself is being further divided between a Serbian section of the city (where also other minorities live like: Roma, Ashkali, Turks) and three neighborhoods - Bosnjacka Mahala, Tri Solitera, and Suvi Do - that are largely Albanian.

I would have like to post some pictures about Bosnjacka mahala, but just by aproaching the district (a cluster of old houses with a huge Albanian flag on the roof) just because we were sitting in a Serbian car some people started shouting at us, so it was not possible to take pictures. I can just tell: a scary situation!

Contact with the city's southern half (populated by Albanians) is also rare and hostile. Before crossing the bridge into that part we had to customize the car, to hide every possible sign of serbness or orthodoxy or we would have needed escort from KFOR.

Here is one building of Naselja "Tri Solitera" (the 3 skyscraper district)  populated by Albanians and where earlier this year exploded some bombs. That's the only picture I could take from the albanian populated places.

N.B. This post is not an intention to implement that there are good ones and bad ones. I wish to show that you can not force people to get along if their basic believes are so different and if the roots of their disagreements are so settled. The situation is not created by the people itself (it's neither the Albanian population nor the Serbian). It's been heavily manipulated by imperialistic wishes of third parties, the ones that now make presure to these people to make peace, to get along nicely. The ones that dare to speak about multiethnicity in the KOSMET region. The ones that dare to say: we helped those people with the "humanitarian" mission: the NATO agression!

I would also like to mention two of very good impressions that have been recently writed about Kosovska Mitrovica:

Alessandro di Meo wrote this posts SOS Kosovo and  KOSMET-è scattato l'allarme about his recent stay in KOSMET (in italian)

Gian Matteo Apuzzo worte a lot about divided cities, and here his post about Kosovska Mitrovica. Divisi dal ponte: Mitrovica,una città die mondi (in italian)

Hotel Narcis in Strpce (Kosovo and Metohija)

This building is really high on my "favorites of the balkan"- list! From the first time I saw the building in pictures I was fascinated by its shape. So you can immagine how I was exited when I travelled from Prizren to Gnjilane following the way through Bresovica (a ski region in the Shar-Mountains) and I stood in front of this impressing building! Location Strpce (serbian: Штрпце, albanian: Shtërpcë) is a little town in the south of Kosovo and Metohija, on the northern side of the Sar Planina (Sar Mountains) on the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It lays 3km from Brezovica, one of the most important ski-center from former Yugoslavia. Strpce has a majority of serbian population so that it's considered a serbian enclave (the only one in the southern part of Kosovo) however there is a big albanian minority (population is 13'600, 9'100 serbs, 4'500 albanians, 300 roma). The place is controlled by ukranian KFOR. The village of Strpce We're here 40km from Pristina, at around 1'000 meter above sealevel, Strpce is a rather sleepy place. The winning side of Strpce is the location settled in a wonderful eco-region, with fresh air, a rich flora and fauna, delicious food and a ski resort that can be easily reached by tourists from Prizren, Skopje, Tetovo, Belgrade, Pristina, Vranje .... But reality in Strpce (and the region) doesn't look that bright: The ski resort is run down, hotels (also Hotel Narcis) had to close down and the town looks empty all year round. Why? What was really good fonctioning in the former Yugoslavia was of course interupted when the Kosovo war broke out. But why could this attractive place not find its way back to prosperity? Many Serbs struggle to stay in business until the ski season brings in roughly 100,000 middle-class Kosovar Albanians, who patronize Serbian-run restaurants, hotels and shops. Then both sides are forced to put aside ethnic and political differences, if only temporarily.
But since the unilateral declaration of independence of the Kosovo Province many Serbian-owned restaurants and hotels sit empty during ski season because Albanian tourists are under pressure to boycott Serbian establishments. If this situation doesn't normalize it will cost some of Brezovica’s 15,000 Serbs their jobs. Jovica Budovic, director of Hotel Narcis, lamented that it limped along with only 5 percent occupancy. He said the creaking infrastructure at the resort, which can accommodate 5,000 skiers an hour on 10 ski lifts, was in dire need of investment.
But few Serbs are willing to invest in a resort that could fall into Albanian hands. “This used to be a four-star hotel, but now because of the politics here, we are empty and everything is frozen,” Mr. Budovic said. “Making money is more important than divisions. It is the politicians who are making the problems.” Hotel Narcis was a A-class hotel and offered 200 beds in 124 rooms, soprtfacilities for summer and winter and halls for meetings and celebrations. The ski facilities have been kept going since 1999 only by international organization stationated in the Kosovo region, for their own purpose. Also they used the hotels for semiraries and meetings. But not in the recent time anymore. Now there were some atempts by Kosovo Trust Agency, KTA to privatize the Hotel complexes in the Bresovica area (Belgarde oposes this, as "privatize" would mean it would fall into Kosovo-albanian hands and coulderase the serbian enclave in other words it's still considered a very delicate question. That means also that no Serbian firm (nor international) is willing to invest in a business in a province where its status is so unclear like the temporary status of Kosovo and Metohija province. And to be honest, where is the fun of skiying where KFOR peacekeepers in camouflage patrol the slopes and there is barbwire everywhere?

Monastery of the Holy Archangels near Prizren

When you leave Prizren along the Bistrica River, after 2,5 km on the old road between Prizren an Skopje you meet the Holy Archangels Monastery (Манастир Светих Архангела) on the right. It was founded by Tsar Dusan and built between 1343 and 1352 on the place of the earlier church,and is parto of Visegrad fortress complex (the fortress is above on a mountain).
The monastery was looted and annihilated after the Ottomans arrived in 1455, and in 1615 it was rased to the ground, and its material was used for the construction of the Sinan Paša Mosque in Prizren. The entire complex was archeologically explored in 1927, and its remains were conserved after Second World War.

In the 1990's the reconstruction of Holy Archangels began. The necessary infrastructure was built and within the old walls a new residential quarter (konak) was built for the brotherhood of monks. A chapel was built inside the konak dedicated to Holy Bishop Nicholas of Žica. The first monks arrived in 1998 and the monastery since then has gained an important role in the spiritual life of the Serb people, especially in this area.






After the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and retreat of the Yugoslav army forces, reconstructed objects were burned and looted in June 1999, by the members of KLA, after the KFOR arrival.

But the reconstruction was interrupted by the war, the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and retreat of the Yugoslav army forces in this region, which has not spared the brotherhood of the Holy Archangels. In June 1999 a monk from the monastery, Fr. Chariton, was abducted. Immediately afterwards, a dozen of monks, together with the majority of the Serbs from this region, left the monastery. The headless body of Fr. Chariton was found in mid 2000 and buried in Crna Reka Monastery. After the arrival of KFOR the brethren gradually returned to the monastery.





During the 2004 unrest in Kosovo, the monastery was burned and looted again by albanian terrorists though during that time it was "controlled" by the KFOR. It's not really understandable how this could happen...I let the conclusions up to your fantasy.
The entire monastery complex is under protection of the Republic of Serbia, as a Monument of Culture of Great Importance, and today in the monastery lives a brotherhood of eight monks that are under constant protection of the German KFOR. :-)








Today the life of the monastery unfolds in complete isolation and consists of everyday services and monastic duties. The woodcarving workshop produces miniature carved items which are very rare and have become well-known abroad. The tailoring workshop is also busy and the monks are learning to work with computers. Today the monastery has become a spiritual center gathering the remaining Serb Orthodox people from Prizren and Sredacka Župa.


ARCHITECTURE
Having inherited the rich building tradition of his predecessors, Dušan's demands with respect to the architecture and richness of the Monastery were great. He probably wanted the pious endowment in which his earthly remains were to be interred to be a symbol of the power and greatness of the state which he ruled.




In addition to the large Church of the Holy Archangels, residential quarters, library and other buildings, within the Monastery there was another, smaller church, the Chapel of St. Nicholas. In the Monastery Charter one can read that a separate building within the complex was designated as the infirmary. The monumental refectory was cross-shaped with an apse on the eastern side. A bridge across the Bistrica River connected the Monastery with Dušan's castle at Ribnik and the royal palace in Prizren.




Holy Archangels was a great imperial pious endowment, lavishly decorated with rich materials. Although the name and origin of the main architect are unknown, it is almost certain that a building of such harmonious proportion and shape and such exquisite workmanship could only have been the work of an architect who had fully mastered the experience of the architects of Constantinople architects in spatial exposition and wedded it to the Mediterranean, Romanesque-Gothic sensibility in the use of stone. In Holy Archangels we appear to have the full flowering of the long-awaited synthesis of religious art forms of the European East and West which matured in the Raška school, on the one hand, and in the monuments of Kosovo and Macedonia, on the other.



Here to download is a very informative file from the European Commission.

Prizren Impressions

For this post I put my favorite shots of Prizren that I havn't already published.
This are manly impressions and nice situations I captured strolling around the city.
Here one of the many mini-markets along the streets.




This fantastic stone wall is in front of the newly renovated house of the League of Prizren. The League of Prizren is mainly to blame if ethnic extremist attacks happened all the time in this city. Formated in 1878 it consisted of nationalistic Albanians with the goal to unite all the regions with Albanian majority and to form a Nation State.

Unintetionally the international community (UNMIK; KFOR, NATO) gave a big help to realize some of their goals!





Our friend's uncle runs this Fast-food restaurant in one of Prizren's main streets. In this kind of places the BBQ is incorporated in the windows, and you see how the fresh meat is roasting!



Nicley arranged vegetables and sure good roasted meat...but no pork is served around Prizren (94% Muslims is the explanation for that). What is also served in places like that that and is really delicious is the "jogurt" (a liquid version of jogurts like they are sold in western europe and with very mild jogurt-cultures.....



In the Podkaljaja district you find distroyed buildings, coloured walls and new building sites near each other.



Entering Prizren shows the ruling law quite clearly: Invented numberplates with -KS- in the middle (created from Kosovo-Albanian separatists years ago to start secession with Serbia) and blackened traffic signs to show that Serbian language is not wished to be heard/spoken/writen.




Also the new houses mirror the traditional style architecture. Four sided roofs covered with ceramic roof tiles and overlapping first floor with big wooden gridded windows looks like the old houses of Prizren.

The old houses in Prizren belong to the traditional balkan "bondruka" style (wooden skeleton construction filled with straw and earth covered with plaster).
This kind of hosuses are common throu all the region of south of Serbia and Macedonia.

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