Woolly says – As I climbed onto our bus for the day I had been trying to work out how many buses we had now used……I lost count after four and found it far more interesting to count my pistachios instead! The half hour journey into Tirana gave me enough time to explain a little more to Jo and Zoe about our destination. Kosovo has a mainly Albanian population, they declared independence from Serbia in February 2008 after years of strained relations between its Serb and Albanian inhabitants. Recognised by the United States and major European Union countries Serbia and Russia still refuses to recognise this fact as do most ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo. After the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s Serbia responded to separatist pressure from Kosovo by launching a brutal crackdown on the territory’s Albanian population, which was only brought to an end by Nato military intervention in 1999. Until 2008 the province was administered by the UN Peacekeeping forces.
It is a country that we seemed to hear more from in the news than through the usual tourist destinations.
Woolly says – the British Foreign Office says….. “The security situation in Kosovo remains calm but tense. There have been violent clashes in the north and incidents involving grenades and vehicle explosions in northern Mitrovica. Incidents in the south are rarer, but violent demonstrations have occurred in Pristina. Residual landmines and other unexploded ordnance remain in Kosovo, although all roads and tracks have been cleared”. I wonder if Jo has packed a flak jacket for me!
We should be fine Woolly, it’s a once in a lifetime experience! Having an hours break in Albania’s capital we set off once more and just as we settled into our seats and our various travelling modes we stopped again.
Woolly says – Climbing down from once bus and up onto another the journey started again. The views were stunning but with the hair pin bends Jo was finding it tricky to hold onto her seat let alone take pictures. Just as I thought it couldn’t get any better with lakes, rivers and the greenest hills and mountains we arrived at what has to be the prettiest border post I have yet to pass through. Passports handed over and duly returned and we were off once more, I took the opportunity to provide my guide services once more on our location for the next two nights. Bulgarian rulers controlled the Prizren area from the 850s, and Slav migrants arriving in the area were subsequently influenced by the Bulgarians. Bulgarian rule was replaced by Byzantine rule in the early eleventh century. In 1072, the Bulgarian and Slavic nobility of Macedonia rose up against the Byzantines, and crowned Serbian ruler Constantine Bodin, a descendant of the Serbian Vojislavljević dynasty, as Emperor of Bulgaria in Prizren. On 21 June 1455, Prizren surrendered to the Ottoman army. During the late 19th century the city became a focal point for Albanian nationalism. Through two world wars and the fight for independence from Serbia, many of the cities people were lost. Before I got any further we appeared to be moving onto a people carrier which whizzed us through the tiny little streets before dropping us in the centre. Finding our beds proved easy and having enjoyed a lovely meal by the river we adjourned for the night, I offered to tell them more as we lay down for the night in our compfy beds but for some reason the girls seemed to be asleep!
I do love his enthusiasm for each country but he does go on a lot! Rested and refreshed our first stop in the morning was to the lovely bridge we had crossed the night before.
Woolly says – the Old Stone bridge was built in the 15th century and was partially destroyed in 2008, having been restored I had to admit that it was rather lovely and having taken the required pictures I pointed the women in the direction of the main mosque in the area.
The Sinan Pasha Mosque was built in 1615 by Sofi Sinan Pasha Bey of Budim. Restoration work was completed on it in July 2011 and having crept quietly inside it looked like they had done a good job. Although small the ceilings and walls were beautifully decorated with the huge light fitting taking centre stage, as people started to enter we headed outside and set off for our next attraction.
Having seen how high we wold have to climb we had all agreed that we needed to do this one before it got too hot!
Woolly says – The incredibly steep road was nearly impossible for my short legs to manage, luckily Jo kept stopping to take photographs or get her breath back so I was just about able to keep up.
Prizren Fortress is a medieval fortress which had been used when the city was the capital of the Serbian Empire. The first fort erected on this location by the Byzantines and was expanded by Emperor Stefan Uroš IV Dušan. The fort then came under the control of the Ottomans for four centuries, giving it the shape that we see today. Having puffed my way to the top I had to admit that the view was incredible, I could see for miles and miles, having stood taking in the size of the city I was fascinated to see what remained of the old Fortress itself. As we wandered the site so much has been restored, very well I might add, but little of the former buildings remained. Walls with small apertures, foundations of what would have once been buildings and lots of newly constructed fortifications were everywhere which gave an idea of how it would have looked but was as historical as my nut collection! With not a snippet of information to guide us we enjoyed looking round but left none the wiser.
The walk down proved far easier and sadly the beautiful Church of the Holy Saviour built around 1330 wasn’t open for us. The church was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, and it is protected by the Republic of Serbia, it was heavily damaged by a Kosovo Albanian mob during 2004.
Woolly says – it did look impressive from the outside but with no option I continued to plod down the ridiculously steep road. Finally getting onto the flat again I spied another church up ahead and guided my party towards it. Saint George Runovic’s church was built in the of 15th century by the Runovic brothers on top of a former church which still proudly displays pillars. Having tried to gain access and been denied we sat in the shade and considered our options, I voted for ice cream!
Having wiped him down and removed the crumbs from his cone we set off to find the League of Prizren Museum.
Woolly says – it was hard to miss from the screams and cries from a large group of students who seemed to have invaded the grounds. The League of Prizren was an Albanian political organization founded on January 5th 1877 to protect, preserve and maintain the territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans by supporting the porte, and “to struggle in arms to defend the wholeness of the territories of Albania”. The small meeting building was filled with pictures of stern looking men who had run the league and once the rowdy infiltrators had left we were able to look at the testaments they had signed before considering the pictures that showed the damage and near total devastation the building had undergone in 2008, another testament to the Kosovans in there restoration work. Having checked for further students I padded across the open concourse and into the museum opposite which housed some fine art work and sculptures of the men who had helped to shape the history of Prizren, downstairs showed me costumes through the ages and as Jo and I stood looking at one case we both wondered if they had been comfortable dressed as they had been!
Little more seemed to remain for us to visit, the ancient Hamman was undergoing restoration and was closed, the sun was beating down on us so having decided to sit and watch the world go by we settled happily into a small café on the edge of Shadervan Square and consider what a lovely place Prizren is, give it a couple more years and it could well be choked with tourists!
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