Pristina

Pristina (Prishtina or Prishtinë in Albanian, Приштина in Serbian) is a 204,725 inhabitants city, capital and most populated city in Kosovo (4th largest if recognising Pristina as part of Serbia). Pristina is mostly inhabited by ethnic Albanians (97.8%) and Albanian is the most important language here. It's also the seat of power of the Government of Kosovo,the Parliament of Kosovo and the residences of the President and Prime Minister. The city is changing very fast and it will probably become more touristic in the future.

How do I arrive to Pristina?

  Pristina has many different ways to arrive for being the capital and largest city in Kosovo. 

• Plane: there are international flights to Pristina International Airport, the most important one in Kosovo. To go from the airport to the city there are buses and taxis and it's 18 km southwest from the center of the city.
• Train: there are trains from Fushë Kosovo (on the outskirts of Pristina) that link Pristina to other places in Kosovo like Peć (aprox 2 hours). There are several trains to destinations like in North Macedonia, cities like Skopje (aprox. 3 hours).
• Bus: the main bus station in Pristina is located in Stacioni i Autobusve and it's the best way to move along Western Balkans. There are frequent buses to other Kosovan locations such as Gjilan (aprox. 1 hour), Prinzren (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) or Peć (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). Buses also connect Pristina with Novi Pazar (aprox. 3 hours) or Belgrade (aprox. 7 hours) in Serbia, Tirana (aprox. 5 hours) in Albania, Skopje (aprox. 2 hours) in North Macedonia or Podgorica and Ulcinj (aprox. 7 hours) in Montenegro.
• Car: if you rented a car in Pristina you can reach many places in Kosovo like for example Lipjan (aprox. 20 minutes), Mitrovica (aprox. 50 minutes), Gjilan (aprox. 1 hour), Prizren (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Sharr Mountains National Park (aprox. 1 hour 20 minutes), Gjakova (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes) or Peć (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). Pristina can also be reached from Skopje (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes) or Tetovo (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes) in North Macedonia, Shkodër (aprox. 3 hours 20 minutes) and Tirana (aprox. 3.5 hours) in Albania, Podgorica (aprox. 5 hours) in Montenegro;  Niš and Novi Pazar (aprox. 3 hours 20 minutes), Belgrade (aprox. 5.5 hours) in Serbia too.

Once in Pristina it's highly recommended to use public transportation (buses) or simply riding a bike or walk as Pristina Old Town isn't very big.

History

During the Roman Empire there was an important Roman city called Ulpiana (15 km south of modern Pristina) that was destroyed and restored by Emperor Justinian I. After the fall of Rome, Pristina was born from the ruins of the ancient Roman city and due to its strategic geographical location and became an important commercial center. During Stefan Milutin's reign (1282 - 1321), the Kingdom of Serbia moved the state capital to Pristina (move that lasted till 1389, when Ottoman army defeats a Balkan coalition army) and subsequently, all of Serbia was conquered by the Turks (1459). The Albanian writer Pjetër Bogdani lived and worked in the city. During the Ottoman Empire Pristina became increasingly Turkish, converting much of the Slavic and Albanian peoples to Islam. From 1870 onwards, the Albanians of the region formed the Prizren League to oppose Ottoman sovereignty (forming a provisional government in 1881). In 1912 Kosovo was briefly included in the recently independent Albania but the following year, Albania was forced to cede the region to Serbia and in 1918, Kosovo was included in Yugoslavia. Before WW2 the city was ethnically mixed (large communities of Albanians and Serbs) and conflicts between the two ethnic groups begin to escalate when Albanians of Muslim faith begin to be deported to Turkey by the Serbian authorities. After WW2 it was reintegrated again in Yugoslavia and Pristina became the capital of the Kosovo Autonomous Province (1946), with a great increase of Albanian population (due to increasing migration from rural areas to the capital and by the early 1980s, the city was made up of 70% Kosovar Albanians). In the end of the 1980s there were very important demonstrations, led by students of the University of Pristina, Serbian President Slobodan Milošević in 1990 reduced Kosovan autonommy and strongly repressed the Albanian community and violence erupted during Kosovo Wars, with several strategic city targets heavily bombarded by NATO forces and many Serbs had to flee Pristina. Since the end of the war, the city has grown again and is Kosovo's main economic, political and cultural center.

Pristina's top 7

If you have little or you just don't want to visit all Pristina, here's a list of the 7 things to do and places you can't miss in the city.

1. Enjoy Pristina's life and atmosphere.
2. Emin Gjiku Ethnographic Museum.
3. Gračanica Monastery (10 km south from Pristina).
4. Pristina Imperial Mosque.
5. Pristina Bear Sanctuary.
6. Museum of Kosovo.
7. Yugoslav architecture in Pristina.
   

What can I visit in Pristina?

 Pristina's Old Town has been recently modified in a very nice way. The most important sites on it are the square Ibrahim Rugova and Nënë Tereza Bulevardi, a pedestrian street that gets full of people on summer evenings.

These are Pristina's main attractions:

Kosovo Museum

• Kosovo Museum (10-18 Tue-Sun; free): the largest museum in whole Kosovo, located on a building of Austro-Hungarian style of construction, that displays a wonderful collection of objects that date back to Bronze Age with great statues and monuments that reflect upon the spiritual and material world of Dardania’s ancient period. The collection advances to the 19th century with an exhibition of military weapons that allows the visitor see how much has military technology evolved in two centuries. One of its most important pieces is Goddess on the Throne, a terracotta figure from Vinča culture.
• Jashar-Pascha Mosque (sunrise-sunset):

  

  Jashar-Pascha Mosque
  

  19th century mosque built by Yashār Mehmet Pāshā, Ottoman governor of Skopje. The building consists of a portico and prayer room, covered with plaster and decorated with arabesques. The mihrab has a stalactite roof and above it, a sculpture with the seal of King Solomon and the tughra of Sultan Mahmud II. 
• Pristina Clock Tower: 19th century 26 m high clock tower built during the late Ottoman period on behalf of the local Pasha Jashar Gjinolli.
• Kosovo Imperial Mosque (sunrise-sunset): 15th century Ottoman style mosque built in 1461 by Sultan Mehmet II Fatih, considered the most important mosque in Pristina. Although its original minaret was destroyed in the earthquake of 1955 (and afterwards rebuilt), its paintings on the ceiling and some decorations inside it make it a very nice place.

  

  Kosovo Imperial Mosque

  During the Austro-Turkish Wars it was turnt into a Catholic church and here was buried a very important Albanian writer, Pjetër Bogdani (important pro-Austrian leader too) and after the Ottomans regained control in 1690, his bones were exhumed and thrown into the street.
• Emin Gjiku Ethnographic Museum (10-17 Tue-Sat, 10-15 Sun; free): fantastic museum, a brach of Kosovo Museum, located in two Ottoman style houses with a large garden where getting a perfect introduction to Kosovo's culture. It displays many different objects like clothing, weapons, jewels or everyday objects.

  

  Emin Gjiku Ethnographic Museum

• St. Nikole Serbian Orthodox Church: 19th century church that was desecrated and vandalized in 1999 and in 2004. Although it was restored some of its scars are still visible.
• Llapit Mosque: 14th century mosque that was partially destroyed by Serbian forces and after the war some building were built surrounding it. It's considered one of the oldest buildings in Pristina (1470).
• NEWBORN: monument and typographic sculpture that conmemorates Kosovan independence from Serbia in 2008. It's painted every year differently on the anniversary of Kosovo's independence movement day.

  

  NEWBORN

• Palace of Youth and Sports in Pristina: multi-purpose hall built by Živorad "Žika" Janković in 1975. It includes two arenas, a shopping mall, indoor parking, two convention halls and a library. Its former name was Boro and Ramiz (for two Yugoslav partisans, one Serbian and the other Albanian) and it was heavily damaged in a fire on 2000.
• Hrista Spasa Serbian Orthodox Church: unfinished church whose construction began in 1992 on the campus of the University of Pristina and was interrupted by Kosovo War.

  

  National Library of Kosovo

• National Library of Kosovo (7-20 Mon-Fri, 7-14 Sat): library designed in 1982 by Andrija Mutnjaković, aiming to join Muslim and Byzantine (or Albanian and Serbian) architecture. The objective of the library is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual heritage of Kosovo.
• National Gallery of Kosovo (10-18 Mon-Fri, 10-17 Sat-Sun; free): Modern art museum that shows this kind of art in Kosovo. The expositions are usually displayed on a whole gallery for an artist's work. It also hosts the works of art that contest Muslim Mulliqi Prize, the most important award of Contemporary art in Kosovo.

  

  Statue of Bill Clinton

• St. Nënë Tereza Catholic Church: church built in 2007 too conmemorate the 100th anniversary of Mother Teresa's birth, imitating Italian Romanesque style, seat of the Diocese of Prizren and Pristina. It was founded by former President of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova, (Muslim himself).
• Statue of Bill Clinton: statue honouring this US President (in the place where h delivered a speech) and thanks him for his help in Kosovo's struggle with the government of Yugoslavia in Kosovo Wars.
• Jewish Cementery: cemetery from 19th century that consists of 57 tombstones from Sephardi Jews.
  
• Gërmia Park: nice park with a lake-sized swimming pool and grassy spaces to relax and a network of trails through the dense woods perfect for dog-walking. 
• Gazimestan Monument: monument and memorial site built in 1953

  

  Tomb of Sultan Murad
  

  that commemorates the Battle of Kosovo (1389), a battle in which the Serbian army leaded by Prince Lazar and the Ottoman one leaded by Murad I that resulted inconclusive (Serbian principalities were weakened and the Ottoman army suffered many losts).
• Tomb of Sultan Murad: mausoleum built in the 14th century dedicated to the Ottoman Sultan Murad I, killed in the Battle of Kosovo (1389). It was built by his son Bayezid I and it became the first example of Ottoman architecture in the Kosovo territory. Only his internal organs were buried here (other remains were taken to Bursa). 
  

Gračanica Monastery

Going 10 km south, in the town of Gračanica (Graçanicë in Albanian, Грачаница in Serbian), a 4,500 inhabitants town with majority of Serbian population part of the Community of Serb Municipalities in Kosovo. Here you can visit Gračanica Monastery (10-19 from Apr to Oct; 10-16 from Nov to Mar; free), a Serbian Orthodox monastery by the Serbian king Stefan Milutin in 1321 (on the ruins of a 6th-century basilica). It's richly decorated with 14th-16th century frescoes and a very small chapel on one side (that seems to be a cave), the monastery is a rare gem of Serbian medieval art and archicture. It was placed under the name of Medieval Monuments in Kosovo (together with some other monasteries) on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2006.

Serbian Orthodox Churches in Lipljan

Almost 20 km south it's located Lipljan (Lipjani in Albanian, Липљан in Serbian), a town with 6,870 inhabitants that is very close to the former Roman city of Ulpiana, most important cities in the Roman province of Dardania. It was founded in the 2nd century under Trajan and renewed in the 6th century during the empire of Justinian (then renamed Iustiniana Secunda). The town was destroyed and rebuilt several times, having been found a basilica, mosaics, tombs, coins, ceramics, weapons, jewels, etc.The most interesting sightseeing points in Lipljan are Vavedenja Presvete Bogorodice Serbian Orthodox Church (free), 12th century church located with medieval frescoes still well preserved located on the foundations of an older Byzantine church and has a peculiar stone iconostasis that separates the altar from the main nave too; and St. Flora i Lavra Serbian Orthodox Church (free), church from 1936 that has one of icons that is widely believed to be wonder-working. Not far from Lipljan the visitor can get into Gadimë Cave (9-19; 2€), a impressive marble cave full of quite extraordinary crystallised stalagmites and stalactites. The cave is just over 1.2 km deep (440 m can be visited on a 30 minutes guided tour).

 

Gjilan

In the east of the country, 40 km far from Pristina, the visitor reaches Gjilan (Gjilane in Albanian, Гњилане in Serbian), a city with 54,239 inhabitants by river Binačka Morava that isn't far from Preševo Valley in Serbia and the border with North Macedonia. It's the 3rd largest city in Kosovo and it has mostly Albanian population (with Serbian and Turkish minorities). Here it can be visited some interesting mosques such as the Great Mosque of Gjilan, a mosque built in the 19th century that is the largest islamic religious building in the region of Anamorava that was rebuilt in modern Arab style after the damage of 2002 earthquake; and Atik Mosque, a mosque built in the 17th century with an Ottman style minaret and whose interior is rich in murals. Here there's also a church built in 1861, St. Nikole Serbian Orthodox Church, that isn't in a satisfactory condition (because of cracks after an earthquake) but has a good collections of icons, iconostasis and frescoes. In Gjilan it can also be visited a UÇK Martyrs' Cemetery. In the way from Pristina it can be stopped at the Ruins of Novo Brdo Fortress, remnants of a fortress was built by king Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia in the late 13th century to protect the region's gold, silver (largest in Europe in the Middle Ages), iron and copper mines. 

What can I do in Pristina?

 

Bears at Pristina Bear Sanctuary

One of the most popular features in Pristina is its autentic atmosphere with crowded streets full of Kosovans enjoying outdoors life, a nice mixture of architecture, interesting cafes or district in which Ottoman heritage can still be felt.  
Outside Pristina, in the village of Mramor, it can be visited Pristina Bear Sanctuary (10-19 from Apr to Oct; 10-16 from Nov to Mar; 2€/ 1€/ 0.50€  adults from Apr to Oct/ reduced from Apr to Oct and adults from Nov to Mar/ reduced from Nov to Mar). Animal reserve dedicated to the European brown bear that have been rescued from restaurants where they were treated as pets. They can no longer live wildly but this sanctuary provides them a much better place to live and visitors can get information about this specie and observe them.

Where can I eat in Pristina?

 Pristina has the largest culinary offer in Kosovo with different flavours, qualities and prices. Some of the cheapest choices to eat are the veggie restaurant Baba Ghanoush (Johan V. Hahn) and there's an important variety of places to eat food for medium-prize such as the popular gastropub Soma Book Station (Fazli Grajqevci 4/A), the Greek restaurant El Greco (Meto Bajraktari 10) or the Albanian one Liburnia (Meto Bajraktari). If you want to spend a bit more money you may try some of these restaurants that cook traditional Balkanic food: Renaissance (Musine Kokalari 35) and Tiffany (Fehmi Agani).
Pristina has an important offer of cafes and one of the visitor's favourite ones is usually Dit' e Nat' (Fazli Grajqevci). In the city it can also be enjoyed some life- music bars, for example, Hamm Jazz Bar (Hajdar Dushi 9) or MIQT pub (Tringë Smajli).

Posted in: Europe,Kosovo