Summer Flight Timetable for Flights to Albania
(Version 5 Effective 05 March 2021)
MITROVICA
The Epicentre of Kosovo’s History!
Gazivoda Lake
Gazivoda Lake or Gazivode Lake is an artificial lake in Kosovo. Gazivoda Lake has an area of 11.9 square Kilometres of which 9.2 km² reside in Kosovo’s territory and 2.7 km² in Serbia’s territory, and it has an average depth of 105 meters. The lake is formed by the damming of the Ibar River, which flows into the lake. In the area of the Ibar basin, a Roman necropolis and the medieval court of queen consort Helen of Anjou was located in Brnjak, near Zubin Potok where she founded a vocational course for poor girls that locals have called the first school for women in the Balkans.
In the lake, tombstones, possibly medieval artifacts, Serbian Orthodox churches and 19th century houses have been found. Whether they are related to ancient and medieval periods remains unclear. A team of Russian archaeologists has undertaken the project of mapping 1 archaeological findings in the lake and investigating any possible links to antiquity.
City of Mitrovica
The city is one of the oldest known settlements in Kosovo, being first mentioned in written documents during the Middle Ages. Near Mitrovica is the medieval fortress of Zvecan, which played an important role during the Kingdom of Serbia under Nemanjic rule. There is archaeological evidence that proves the region of Mitrovica has been inhabited since the Neolithic era. Two settlements were discovered in 1955 in the industrial park near the FAFOS factory (phosphates productions), from which the archaeological site got the name.
In Fafos, settlements revealed different objects of everyday use, but the most characteristic were cult objects (small anthropomorphic figures) of the Vinca culture. Under Ottoman rule Mitrovica was a typical small Oriental city. Rapid development came in the 19th century after lead ore was discovered and mined in the region, providing what has historically been one of Kosovo's largest industries. It became an industrial town, formerly the economic centre of Kosovo because of the nearby Trepca Mines. It grew in size as a centre of trade and industry with the completion of the railway line to Skopje in 1873–1878, which linked Mitrovica to the port of Thessaloniki. Another line later linked the town to Belgrade and Western Europe. During World War II, the city was part of Axis-occupied Serbia.
In 1948, Mitrovica had a population of 13,901 and in the early 1990s of about 75,000. Both the town and municipality were severely affected by the 1999 Kosovo War. According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the area had been the scene of guerrilla activity by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) prior to the war. It came under the command of NATO's French sector; 7,000 French troops were stationed in the western sector with their headquarters in Mitrovica.
Banjska Monastery
Banjska Monastery, Manastiri i Banjskës is an Orthodox monastery in the Banjska village near Zvecan in Kosovo. The monastery, along with the Church of St Stephen, was built between 1313 and 1317, founded by Serbian King Stefan Milutin, one of the most powerful rulers of his time and of the Nemanjic dynasty. Milutin built the church as his burial place, and it is where he was first laid to rest. However, following the Battle of Kosovo (1389), his body was moved to Trepca and then in 1460 to Sofia (Bulgaria), where it lies to this day. The monastery shared the fate of its founder. The monumental building with its church, library, monks' quarters and "imperial palace" began to fall into disrepair 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.
Benedikt Kupresic, a traveller, mentioned that the monastery was razed to the ground in the 16th century on the orders of the Ottoman Sultan, as Christians who had fled Ottoman tyranny were gathering in it. St Stephen's, almost totally destroyed, was turned into a mosque in the 19th century and served as such until World War I. The first conservation activity was carried out in 1939 and again in 1990, when the church was partly rebuilt. The monastery is one of the few for which the founding charter has been preserved; it was granted a large estate at its founding, of 75 villages and 8 pastures. As the complex was built as the final resting place of a king, the bishopric was "upgraded" to a stavropegial monastery - roughly translated, an Imperial monastery, fourth by rank in the state.
Memorial Complex Adem Jashari
In the village Prekaz, the former residence of the Jashari family stands as testimony to the martyr and his family as the house is open to the public as a memorial for the fallen soldiers to the Kosovo War (1998-99). Beside the house graves where lay 61 bodies of Jashari’s family, led by Shaban, Hamëz and Adem Jashari, who fell heroically on 5th, 6th and 7th of March 1998, in the battle with Serbian paramilitary forces. Near the grave of the three first martyrs continuously stay KSF guard, which honors the legendary commander and all Jasharis.
Adem Jashari memorial is arranged with marble and names of the martyrs emit sparks under the cold rays of the sun in February. Jashari family with 12 descendants In a picture with eight children wearing national dress are grandsons of Jashari family, of Rifat, Adem and Hamzë. This picture symbolizes the renewal of the Jashari family after the war. As in the Jashari complex flies red and black Albanian flag, a ommon symbol of the Kosovoan struggle during the war.
Vojinović Bridge
Vojinovic Bridge is located in Vucitrn, Kosovo. It dates from the mediavel period, at end of the 14th or early 15th century, and, according to popular legend, was built by the brothers Vojinovic, mentioned in Serbian epic poetry as nephews of Tsar Dusan. The Old Stone Bridge is perfectly asymmetrical with nine arches is located to the west of the town of Vushtrria, along the old Vushtrri – Mitrovicë road.
In the middle flow of Sitnica River, this bridge served to connect two riverbanks. In 20th century, the Sitnica riverbed deviated in a natural phenomenon was created, a bridge without the river. Melted lead was used in the joints for binding purposes. The bridge is 135 metres long and 6 metres wide. The bridge track is laid with cobble stones. According to Ottoman archive (May 1791), it is proved that the bridge was built by Mahmut Pasha.
The style of arches with jagged edges, stone engravings, profiled stones used as curbs proves that the bridge belongs to ottoman construction of bridges It carried over the Sitnica river the trade route between Dubrovnik and Skopje and neighbouring parts of the Balkan Peninsula. In 1990 it was declared as a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance. It is regarded as the oldest surviving stone bridge in Kosovo. The building of the bridge is traditionally attributed to the Vojinovic brothers, to whom is also attributed the nearby Vucitrn Fortress. The Vojinovici existed as nobility in the first half of 14th century, and according to epic poetry were nephews of Emperor Dusan.
Berim
Berim is a mountain in Kosovo, which is part of Mokra Gora. It is 1,731 m high and is located on the Bjeshkët e Thata, or Barren Mountains. It is in the municipality of Zubin Potok. From its peak parts of Gazivoda Lake can be seen.
Zvechan Fortress
The Fortress of Zvečan, also known as Zvečan/Zveçan medieval fortress and Fortress of Mitrovica, located in the north-west of the city of North Kosovska Mitrovica, in North Kosovo, is an enormous castle and one of the oldest fortresses in South Eastern Europe. It was built on the top of the extinct volcano vent, overlooking the Ibar river. Zvečan Fortress was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia, although lying within Kosovo.
According to some data from the Roman times, the medieval town Zvečan, just as all the towns of the time, was built on a barely accessible hill in the base of which was the architecture of the early Byzantine period. The archeological data up to the 9th century are rather scanty as well as the written documents about it.Thick and high walls of Zvečan fortress at the Nemanjić’s time, served not only for protection against the enemy’s assaults but also as a shelter for the merchants from Dubrovnik as well as a dungeon for the overthrown rulers of the Nemanjić’s lineage.
Thus Konstantin Nemanić, Stefan Dečanski’s stepbrother, was buried here in 1322. King Stefan Dečanski himself was imprisoned and ended his life there (1311) after having been caught in Petrič according to his son Dušan’s order. For some time, the ruler of Zvečan was Grand Prince Lazar’s son-in-law, the chieftain Musa, at the time of Czar Uroš. By the end of 14th century Zvečan was under the rule of Vuk Branković and after his fall from power, the Turks appeared in Zvečan. Zvečan finally fell into Turkish power in 1455, when the Turkish population colonized these areas.
Among whom Feriz Ćefalija was mentioned to have an authorization from the Sultan and Pasha from Skoplje to make trading connections with Dubrovnik. By its subjection to Turkish rule, Zvečan lost its importance as a military fort and the authors of the travel books from the 16th century, Benedicte Kuripešić and Evlija Čelebija referred to its as a deserted town on the hill to the north of Kosovska Mitrovica.
