Summer Flight Timetable for Flights to Albania
(Version 5 Effective 05 March 2021)
PRIZREN
The Historical Centre of Kosovo!
Prizren Fortress
Prizren Fortress, also known as Kaljaja and Dusan’s Fortress, is a medieval fortress in Prizren, Kosovo, which once served as the capital of the Serbian Empire. It was built on a hill above Prizrenska Bistrica, around which the modern city developed. The first fort, erected on this location by the Byzantines, was further expanded by Emperor Stefan Dusan. The fort then came under the control of the Ottomans for four centuries. It was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1948. The fortress dates since the Roman years and lived until 1915, when it was destroyed during the First World War.
Prizren was founded in the 11th century on the ruins of ancient Theranda, first mentioned in 1019 at the time of Basil II (reign 976–1025) in the form of Prizdrijana. In 1072, Serbian ruler Constantine Bodin (reign 1081–1101) was declared “Emperor of the Bulgarians” in Prizren during the large Slavic uprising against the Byzantine Empire. From the time of Stefan the First-Crowned (r. 1196–1228) and onwards, Prizren’s importance increased, particularly during the reigns of King Stefan Milutin (reign 1282–1321) and Emperors Stefan Dusan (reign 1331–55) and Uros V (reign 1355–71).
The Prizren square and its stronghold developed the Via de Zenta trade route which passed through the Drin valley and connected the Adriatic Sea with the interior of the Balkan Peninsula. Tsar Dusan expanded the fortification and had his endowment, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels, built in its vicinity, by the Visegrad fortress. Prizren served as the first Serbian imperial capital for which it is called the City of the Emperor or Serbian Tsarigrad.
During the fall of the Serbian Empire, up until the turn of the 14th century, the city was in the possession of several Serbian noble families, such as the Mrnjavcevic family, the Balsic family, and the Brankovic family. With Ottoman expansion, it began to lose its commercial importance, so in 1433 it is mentioned as a deserted square. Prizren fell to the Ottomans on 21 June 1455, although some sources place it in 1459. The Ottomans expanded the fortress and held it up until Prizren’s capture by Serbia during the First Balkan War (1912). Today the fortress is open for tourists and provides impressive views of the city bellow especially in evenings.
The City of Prizren
One of Kosovo’s and the Balkans most historical cities the whole city itself is a historical artefact with each building identifying with its past. In the 5th century, it is mentioned as being restored in Dardania with the name of Petrizen by Procopius of Caesarea in De aedificiis. It is thought that its modern name comes from old Serbian Призрѣнь (Prizren), from при-зрѣти (pri-zreti), indicating fortress which could be seen from afar. Bulgarian rulers controlled the Prizren area from the 850s. Bulgarian rule was replaced by Byzantine rule in the early eleventh century. In 1072, the Bulgarian and Serb nobility of Macedonia rose up against the Byzantines, and crowned Serbian ruler Constantine Bodin, a descendant of the Serbian Vojislavljevic dynasty, as Emperor of Bulgaria in Prizren.
The revolt was suppressed by 1073. The area was raided by Serbian ruler Vukan in the 1090s. After several years of attack and counterattack, the Ottomans made a major invasion of Kosovo in 1454. On 21 June 1455, Prizren surrendered to the Ottoman army. Prizren was the capital of the Sanjak of Prizren, and under new administrative organization of Ottoman Empire it became capital of the Vilayet. This included the Macedonian city of Tetovo. Later it became a part of the Ottoman province of Rumelia. It was a prosperous trade city, benefiting from its position on the north-south and eastwest trade routes across the Empire. Prizren became one of the larger cities of the Ottomans' Kosovo Province (vilayet).
Prizren was the cultural and intellectual centre of Ottoman Kosovo, noticeable today from its architecture. During the late 19th century the city became a focal point for Albanian nationalism and saw the creation in 1878 of the League of Prizren, a movement formed to seek the national unification and liberation of Albanians within the Ottoman Empire. The Young Turk Revolution was a step in the dissolving of the Ottoman empire that led to the Balkan Wars.
The Third Army (Ottoman Empire) had a division in Prizren, the 30th Reserve Infantry Division (Otuzuncu Pirzerin Redif Fırkası). During the First Balkan War the city was seized by the Serbian army and incorporated into the Kingdom of Serbia. Although the troops met little resistance, the takeover was bloody with 400 people dead in the first few days; the local population would call the city 'The Kingdom of Death'. The Daily Chronicle reported on 12 November 1912 that 5,000 Albanians had been slaughtered in Prizren. General Božidar Janković forced the local Albanian leaders to sign a declaration of gratitude to King Peter of Serbia for their 'liberation by the Serbian army'.
Following the capture of Prizren, most foreigners were barred from entering the city, for the Montenegrin forces temporarily closed the city before full control was restored. A few visitors did make it through, including Leon Trotsky, then working as a journalist for a Ukrainian newspaper and reports eventually emerged of widespread killings of Albanians. Sometimes the streets, the buildings and maybe the faces of the people make the air you breathe magical, just like in Prizren. From the moment you first set foot in Prizren you feel like you are in an Anatolian city such as Bursa, a typical Ottoman city. But in Prizren it feels more Ottoman as time has been virtually frozen since 1455. Prizren is the second biggest city of Kosovo and as a settlement it dates back to ancient times.
Albanian League of Prizren
Albanian League of Prizren, Lidhja Shqipetare e Prizrenit is a monument located in the centre of Prizren which became historically important since 1878 when the League of Prizren was organized there. It was an assembly consisting of 300 representatives from all Albanian inhabited territories gathered there to discuss about the foundation of an autonomic and unified Albanian state that would cover the territory of Prizren, Shkoder, Manastir and Janine.
Many documents related to the League of Prizren are still archived in this monument. The Complex of the League is an urban/architectural ensemble, strategically 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 Mosque, and around it, other buildings were developed, such as the League Building, the Medrese, Turbe, library and residential buildings. Residential buildings are mainly spread through the south-western area of the Gazi Mehmed Pasha Complex, within which we have the Monumental Complex of the Prizren League.
These folk architecture buildings are found individually and in series. By the end of the 19th century, and the early 20th century, restoration and reconstruction works in residential buildings clearly feature European Baroque styles, with a hint of Neo-Classicism, which provides a specific image to these buildings. After the 1950s, mass demolitions were made, in the name of road expansion, and the Lumbardh River was reshaped for “modernizing” the city. From this complex, only a few preserved buildings remain, while some parts of the Medrese were also destroyed.
Our Lady of Ljevis
Our Lady of Ljevis is a 14th -century Serbian Orthodox church in the town of Prizren, located in southern Kosovo. It was converted to a mosque during the Ottoman Empire and then back into a church in the early 20th century. The construction of the church was commissioned in 1306–09 by Serbian King Stefan Milutin. It was built on the site of the ruins of an earlier Byzantine church, whose original name Metera Eleousa was preserved in Slavic as Bogorodica Ljeviska.
Sinan Pasha Mosque
The Sinan Pasha Mosque is an Ottoman mosque in the city of Prizren, Kosovo. It was built in 1615 by Sofi Sinan Pasha, bey of Budim. The mosque overlooks the main street of Prizren and is a dominant feature in the town’s skyline. Sinan Pasha Mosque was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990. Sofi Sinan Pasha started construction of the mosque in either 1600 or 1608. Sofi Sinan Pasha, a former beylerbey and kaymakam in Bosnia should not be confused with grand vizier Sinan Pasha, who built the Sinan Pasha Mosque in the nearby city of Kačanik. It is widely considered that the stones used to build the mosque were taken from nearby Saint Archangels Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox monastery founded by Serbian Emperor Stefan Dusan.
In fact, parts of the former monastery can be seen in the mosque. The monastery, which was abandoned after the arrival of the Ottomans in the 16th century, had fallen to ruins by the 17th century. Hasan Kaleshi, an Albanian historian, sustained in 1972 that Sofi Sinan Pasha couldn’t have possibly ordered any monastery destruction as this was impossible without a Sultan decree, rather, he ordered the use of the spare stones to a better deed as ordered by the Sultan. The walls and dome inside Sinan Pasha Mosque were painted in the 19th century, mostly of floral patterns and Qur’an verses. The minbar is painted with floral motives. Both the large dome and the half-dome of the mosque are covered with lead. The stone flooring of the mosque and the carpentry are original.
Ura e Gurit, Stone Bridge
The Stone Bridge was built from Ali Beu in the 16th century in the oriental style and has spherical shape. In 1979 the Bridge was destroyed due to floods and was rebuilt in 1982 which left the Bridge with some substantial changes in its architecture. The Lumbardh River goes through Prizren city, thereby dividing the city in two almost identical parts. Over the Prizren Lumbardh, many bridges have been built in history, but undoubtedly the most special one, which also became a symbol of the city, is the Stone Bridge.
The Stone Bridge is located in the centre of the old town. On the eastern side to it, there is the Arasta Bridge, while on the western side, there is a Nalet Bridge. Based on materials used, the style, technique of construction, it may be assumed that the bridge was built by the end of the 15th Century, or the early 16th century. The old bridge is built in quality carved stones, connected by lime plaster. The old bridge used to have three arches, the middle one being the highest, and the side arches were smaller. The length of the former bridge used to be 30 m, while the current bridge is 17 m long. The flooding on 17-18 November 1979 destroyed the whole bridge. Enamoured with the bridge, the Prizren population mobilized itself, and used a design made by Engineer M. Gojkovic, and started, on 5 June 1982 the works on its reconstruction.
Monastery of the Holy Archangels
The Monastery of the Holy Archangels is a Serbian Orthodox monastery located in Prizren, in Kosovo, founded by the Serbian Emperor Stefan Dusan between 1343 and 1352 on the site of an earlier church, part of the Visegrad fortress complex. It was the burial church for Emperor Dušan and represented the culmination of the Serbian ecclesiastical architectural style, that led to the birth of the Morava school style. The complex, which ranges over 6,500 square metres, includes two churches, the main one is dedicated to the Holy Archangels, and the second one is dedicated to St. Nicholas, both built in the Rascian architectural style.
The monastery was looted and destroyed after the Ottomans arrived in 1455, and in 1615 it was razed to the ground and its material was used for the construction of the Sinan Pasha Mosque, Prizren. The entire complex was archeologically explored in 1927, and its remains were conserved after the Second World War. During the last decade of the 20th century, work on the reconstruction was continued, and in 1998 it again became an active male monastery.
During archaeological excavation of the monastery complex, the oldest findings are dated from the Eneolithic age, while it is evident that in the early Iron Age there was a settlement. During classical period, settlement was disbanded, and later during the 4th, 5th and 6th centuries was again founded and it was late classical period or early Byzantine village, which was surrounded by a late antique wall, but that still has not been scientifically confirmed. The Monastery was the pious endowment of Emperor Dusan, built at the site of an older church dedicated to the Holy Archangels, that had been known for its miraculous powers.
Metropolitan Jacob was responsible for the construction of the monastery, which began planning in 1343, according to Dusan’s St. Peter of Korisa-charter dated 19 May the same year. After Dusan’s recovery from a serious illness, he decided to raise the Monastery on this site, as a place of healing and in gratitude to Christ and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was consecrated in the fall of 1347, as Dusan prepared a trip on 1 August to attend the consecration. The church construction began in 1348, supervised by Metropolitan Jacob. In the founding charter, the Emperor gave the monastery 93 villages, 7 churches with their people and possessions (fertile land, vineyards, and oil-lamps), an iron mine in Toplica, 467 Vlach families (shepherds), 8 Albanian huts, and a range of craftsmen, including goldsmiths.
The monastery estate stretched from the Šar Mountains to the Adriatic Sea. After the capture of Prizren and its surroundings in 1455 by the Ottoman Empire, the monastery was looted and destroyed. The monastic community did not stop, but the complex had lost its old glory and was in constant decline. At the beginning of the 17th century, a systematic demolition was conducted on the monastery churches as to obtain construction material for Sofi Sinan Pasha’s Mosque in the center of Prizren, which was finished in 1615, and is part of Serbia’s Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance-heritage list, added in 1990.
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour
The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, also known as Precinct of the Lady Helper Church and Con-cathedral of the Lady Helper is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prizren, Kosovo, seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of PrizrenPrishtina. The Cathedral of Prizren was commissioned in 1870 by Dario Bucciarelli, Archbishop of Skopje. Its clocktower was built by Thomas Glasnovic, a Croatian monk and architect. The cathedral among its frescoes features in the north side of the church a fresco of Skanderbeg painted in 1883 by Gjergj Panariti an Albanian monk and painter from Korçë, Albania.
Emin Pasha Mosque
In the Saraçhane neighbourhood, Emin Pasha, who was Sanjak-Bey of Prizren from 1789 until 1843, built the mosque, the Meytep and other auxiliary facilities. The year of construction is verified by the inscription over the entry gate, with four lines and the following text: “Benefactor and constructor of the Mosque is Prizren’s Emin Pasha, son of Tahir Pasha, Mutesarif of Kiustendil. Year of construction 1831”. The mosque’s construction is specific for our areas, and is similar to the Sinan Pasha Mosque, but in a lesser scale.
The interior painting is also similar to the second stage paintings in the Sinan Pasha Mosque. The shape of the building is rectangular, with a part added in a form of a niche, rectangular in the south-eastern side, where the Mihrab is. The functional organization is similar to other mosques, where the entrance is through the vestibule, built on four stone columns, and a shallow wooden fence. The main entrance is covered with a central cupola, and a semi-cupola in the Mihrab area. The walls are built in various stones, and plastered in both sides, while the cupola is covered in lead sheeting. The minaret is stone-made, plastered on the outside. It has a rectangular foundation, a circular structure and a decorated gallery. It is covered in lead sheeting.
The painting in internal and partially the external walls (vestibule) is in Baroque style, which reflects the penetration and influence of the European arts during the 19th century. Motives are of a floral nature, dominated by blue and yellow colours. The mosque yard holds also the old graves, with marble tombstones, including the Emin Pasha’s grave. Apart from its historical, artistic and scientific values, since Emin Pasha belonged to the aristocratic family of Rrotllaj, which had major influences on the historical events in Prizren during the 17th until 19th century. The Mosque has preserved its originality, apart from minor interventions during the 1990s, covering of the vestibule by an aluminium construction, and painting of the walls from the inside.
Hamam in Prizren, Turkish Baths
The Gazi Mehmed Pasha Hamam (Turkish Bath) is located near the city centre, near the Kukli-Mehmet Bey Mosque, and the Emin Pasha Mosque. It was built during the period 1563-1574, by Gazi Mehmet Pasha, Sanjak-bey of Shkodra during the period 1573-1574. On the main gate, there is an inscription plate (1833) which shows the restoration date taken by Tahir and Mehmed Pashe Rrotulli. The Turkish Bath is part of the architectonic ensemble established by Gazi Mehmet Pasha, including the Bayrakli Mosque, the Secondary School (Medresse), the primary school (meytep), the library and the mausoleum (turbe). The bath is of the “çifte hamam” type, which means that it was used by both genders at the same time. It is built in different stones.
The Hamam includes all areas required for such baths, including an entry area (reception and bar), wardrobe, central part of bath, the sweating area, the entertainment area, and the heating area, in the south part of the building. The width of the walls is around 90 cm, plastered on the inside. The roofing of the facility is made of two cupola built upon tumblers, and nine smaller cupola over the hot part of the Bath. The wardrobe and the heating area are covered in lintelts. The roofing envelope includes roof tiles over the cold area, and lead sheeting over other areas. Until 1964, the Bath was surrounded by commercial premises, which were demolished at that time, before restoration and conservation works took place. Even in the 70s, there were several renovation works taken, but the facility was left to the mercy of time since then.
Jazhincë Lake
Jazhincë Lake is a mountain lake in Republic of Kosovo, found in the eastern part of the Sharr Mountains. Big Jazinacko Lake is 2,180 metres above sea level, just under the peak of Peskovi, which reaches a height of 2,651 metres. Its maximum length is 125 metres and its maximum width is 90 metres. On some sides the lake is surrounded by large rocks which makes it ideal for animals to hide or live in.
Sharri Mountains
Sharr Mountains is a mountain range that lies in the south-east part of Kosovo. They cover a territory of 60 kilometres long and lie at an average altitude of 16-20 km. The Sharr Mountain consists of three main zones: The zone of Luboten and Brezovica, the central zone of Prizren, and the zone of Opoja and Gora. The most attractive peaks of the Sharr-Mountains are: Luboten , Bistra Peak, Black Peak, Kobilica Peak, Peak of Von Korff, Zallina Peak, Tërepeznica Peak, Great Vraca and Small Vraca.
The highest peak is Luboteni Peak, which reaches an altitude of 2553 meters, and is believed to mean “Beautiful view”, originating from the French words: “le bo ten”. The mountains are unique to others in the region from their thick green vegetation that climbs the entirety of the mountains to the snow-capped top. The great ski and hiking terrains, picturesque landscape, and several mountain lakes make this part of Kosovo one of the most beautiful and attractive places for visitors.
Prevalla National Park
Prevalla National Park is a park located in Sharr Mountains, on the road from Shterpce to Prizren, at a height of 1515 meters above sea level. The mountainous terrain, amazing landscape and fresh air make it a fantastic area for hiking, skiing and unwinding. Moreover, Lepenci River derives in this territory, which makes it even more attractive and interesting for the visitors. Prevalla is a skiing center and touristic village which approximately is 30 kilometres away from Prizren, and about 12 kilometers from Brezovica, the largest ski center in Kosovo.
Prevalla is a popular destination for hikers or skiers. The village borders a large forest. During the summer, people go there to relax and rest, whereas during the winter people visit it for its seasonal recreational sports. It lies 1800 metres above sea level. Prevalla is located in the south of Kosovo in the Sharr Mountains, in the road leads from Prizren via Prevalla to Shtrpce.
