Dr. Stefan Christmann

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Battles and speeches

High fences, barbed wire, numerous CCTV cameras, dogs and guards. No sign is leading to this place, there are no other visitors, you are not allowed to take anything inside and you’ll have to hand over your passport to the guards. The Gazimestan monument near Prishtinë, Kosovo is a place you don’t want to be at. But if you want to understand the conflicts between Serbs and Albanians about the Kosovo Polje it is a key element. The medieval-shaped tower built in 1953 contains different nationalistic texts and is dedicated to an important fight in 1389.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Ancient monastery

When you arrive at Graçanicë, Kosovo you will see a vast area surrounded by old stone walls. It is the Manastiri i Graçanicës, a serbian-orthodox monastery and one of the most important sights in Kosovo. The cloister was founded in 1321 by serbian king Stefan Uroš II Milutin. In its center you will find a wonderful small church in byzantine style with five cupolas. As you might expect in case of orthodox church it is richly decorated in gold and the entrance area is covered with well-preserved beautiful frescos.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Flowstone cave

When local citizen Ahmet Diti was gathering rock for building his house in 1969 he found an opening in the mountains and after climbing in he saw endless stalagtites. The cave he discovered by this is the Shpella e Gadimës at Gadime e Poshtme, Kosovo. It has then been preserved, the floor covered in concrete and opened to visitors. On a 1400 meters long path you can now see how water has washed out this cave, see small lakes, stalagtites and stalagmites and dosh growing in artificial light.

September 8, 2019April 19, 2022

Prishtinë

Prishtinë is the capital city of Kosovo, the biggest city in the country and located in the heart of the Kosovo Polje. Its origins date back to the first century CE as you can see at the archaeological site Ulpiana. Prishtinë is a nice place to visit with surprisingly shaped buildings, small museums and many nice restaurants and bars. For someone used to old cities with clearly visible structures the city feels a bit unplanned and scattered.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

National gallery

Every capital city in the world needs a national gallery – that’s also true for Prishtinë, Kosovo: the Galeria Kombëtare e Kosovës is located in a rather small building (which is very modern inside) which was built in 1935 as a barrack of the Yugoslavian army. The museum exists since 1976 and the building is now mostly used for changing exhibitions of contemporary local and international artists. Even if the state Kosovo is still young there is already a long history of regional artists.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Museum of Kosovo

The Muzeu i Kosovës at Prishtinë, Kosovo is a must-see if your interested in the ancient or younger history of this region. It is located in a nice former military building from 1889 in Austro-Hungarian style in the old city center. The museum dates back to the year 1949 and has two floors: on the lower one you can see an archeological exhibition with the queen on the throne (Mbretëresha në fron) as a highlight – which dates back to the New Stone Age. The upper floor contains items of the Kosovo war.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Ethnological museum

Muzeu Etnologjik 'Emin Gjiku', Prishtinë

The ethnologic museum of Pristhinë, Kosovo is a rather small collection that should be seen as a department of the Museum of Kosovo. It is located in two wonderful ancient buildings in the old city center. The buildings and the items displayed within give a good insight how people at the Kosovo were living at the beginning of the 19th century. You can see furniture, tools, clothing, musical instruments and personal weaponry of this time.

September 8, 2019April 19, 2022

Osman mosques

Prishtinë, the capital city of Kosovo doesn’t have big mosque – even though 95 % of Kosovans are muslims. Therefore the believers use many small mosques throughout the city and in the old city center two beautiful Osman mosques can be found next to each other: the Xhamia e Madhe, the Xhamia e Jashar Pashës and the Xhamia e Çarshisë. When you’re visiting the Kosovo museum or the ethnologic museum take your time to stop there.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

National library

Biblioteka Kombëtare Pjetër Bogdani, Prishtinë

The Biblioteka Kombëtare e Kosovës ‘Pjetër Bogdani’ (BKK) at Pristhinë, Kosovo is maybe the most impressive building of the city. It is the largest library of the Kosovo and was founded at Prizren in 1944. It moved to the new building located at the university area near the city center of Pristhinë in 1982. The building was designed by Andrija Mutnjaković, is decorated with numerous steel elements and has 99 cupolas.

September 8, 2019September 29, 2019

Katedralja e së Lumes Nënë Tereza

Islam is the most important religion in Kosovo, 95 % of the Kosovans are muslims. Nevertheless the biggest and most visible house of prayer in Prishtinë is Roman-Catholic: the Mother Teresa Cathedral (Katedralja e së Lumes Nënë Tereza) at the Bulevardi Bill Klinton. While there is still no central big mosque and the muslims need to visit smaller distributed – often ancient – ones the Catholic church wanted to set a sign and the local government accepted and supported this.