Sights Archives ⋆ The Passenger

September 14, 2019September 15, 2019

Aschrottpark

The Tannenkuppe (fir summit) is a hill in the city quarter Vorderer Westen (fore west) of Kassel, Germany – not far away from the railway station Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe. It consists of limestone (like nearby Kratzenberg) which was gathered and until the mid of the 19th century also burned there to receive Calcium oxide; a material needed for buildings and industry. In the 1880s local industrial Sigmund Aschrott baught this place and converted it into a landscape garden.

September 10, 2019September 15, 2019

Miners monument

The city of Mitrovicë, Kosovo is mainly known for two things: that river Ibër splits the city and the country itself into the Serbian north and the Albanian south and for its mining tradition. On Serbian-controlled territory in the northeast you can find the Miniera e Trepçës or Rudnik Trepča – the largest mine for lead and zinc ore in Europe (which is additionally also gathering silver and gold). Up to 23000 workers were once employed there at the same time.

September 9, 2019September 19, 2019

Malet e Sharrit

At the border between Kosovo and North Macedonia you can find a fantastic mountain range called Malet e Sharrit, Sharr or Šar Planina. It is a great contrast to the flat land in the Kosovo Polje and contains high mountains, deep valleys and endless green forests. The area is especially known for the artisan products created here and the possibility to go skiing in the upper parts. A good way to explore the Malet e Sharrit nature protection zone is to start from Prizren and to drive into the direction of Brod – you will then cross the complete mountain range

September 9, 2019September 19, 2019

Mirusha valley

The Mirusha valley is one of the natural highlights of Kosovo. It is located in the middle between Pejë and Prizren in a mountainous region with wonderful forests. The river Mirusha here creates 16 waterfalls connecting 13 small lakes. The largest waterfall is 22 meters high. Animals living in this nature protection zone include wild boars, badgers, wolves, turtles and otters. It is a wonderful place full of nature that is a little bit hard to reach.

September 8, 2019September 17, 2019

Bear sanctuary

Going to a place where bears are held in eastern Europe is normally no pleasure. They often live in old and shabby cages that are much too small and don’t provide a suitable environment for these beautiful animals. With the Bear sanctuary Prishtina at Novo sellë, Kosovo it is absolutely different. In Kosovo it was allowed for long time to have a bear as your personal animal. Most often they were held in small cages next to restaurants for the amusement of the visitors. When this law was fortunately changed the animal protection association Four paws offered to create a sanctuary in Kosovo.

September 8, 2019September 17, 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 18, 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, 2019September 15, 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 20, 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.

September 1, 2019September 4, 2019

Depot

The Sächsisches Eisenbahnmuseum (Saxonian railway museum) at Chemnitz, Germany is a hidden gem for railway enthusiasts. It is located at the former Bahnbetriebswerk at Chemnitz-Hilbersdorf – a railway depot where until 1988 the maintenance for steam engine locomotives was carried out. It consists of two roundhouses filled with steam, diesel and electric locomotives, a narrow-gauge field railway and a lot more to discover. You can roam the vast area of the museum freely – which is part of the fun.