25. the Kosovo monasteries

The Kosovo monasteries are only the Kosovo monasteries, because they are nowadays located in Kosovo. But make no mistake, for all intents and purposes they are just as Serbian as the earlier ones I have shared with you. In fact, they are so Serbian, that they have to be protected by KFOR, the UN peacekeeping force in Kosovo, and by Kosovar police. Just to make sure, I guess, that not one day, in another flare-up of ethnic tensions that have fed the Kosovo conflict – the Kosovo war, for want of a better word – since the end of the 20th Century, this quintessential Serbian culture is wiped out by angry ethnic Albanian Kosovars.

Gracanica Monastery

The first of the two monasteries we intend to visit today is the Gracanica Monastery in the outskirts of Prishtina. On the way our GPS system is fooled by the construction drive in this ever growing city, where tens if not hundreds of modern apartment buildings are underway. Some of them on roads that used to be going through, but have now been turned into a cul-de-sac, for the benefit of the main entrance of yet another tower. But in the end we find a way through, and we reach the Monastery, just in time as it turns out.

The good news is that the church, when we enter, is fully illuminated, all the impressive frescos, even those in the highest part of the cupola, better visible than is normally the case. The bad news is that they have turned on the lights for a baptism that is about to start in five minutes, by which time we have to have left again. Five minutes is by far not enough to take in all the paintings, which cover all of the walls and ceilings, but it does provide us with that wow-feeling, a feeling we get every time we enter one of those immensely impressive temples. And at least in this case we can later check on the frescoes, because there is not only a digital archive, but even a virtual reality walk through the church. Now we are talking! (https://www.blagofund.org/Archives/Gracanica/)

The monastery was built by Stefan Milutin, the eighth Serbian king from the Numanjic dynasty, in 1321. The dynasty was established in 1166 by Stefan Numanja, who we already encountered as the founder of the Studenica monastery in Serbia. The dynasty lasted until 1371, and was responsible for the development and expansion of the Medieval Kingdom of Serbian, which at its height comprised of Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro, as well as parts of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Coastal Croatia and Albania (the Kingdom was briefly elevated to Empire by Dusan the Minghty, the 12th in line, who conquered an area from the Danube to the Gulf of Corinth).

It is amazing the monastery still exists. It has been damaged many times through history, by Ottomans, at the end of the 14th C, and again at the end of the 17th C, during the so-called Great Turkish War. As if that wasn’t enough, NATO bombed it twice in 1999 during the Kosovo War. Nowadays it is the Bishop’s seat, and has been turned not only into the spiritual centre of the Orthodox church in Kosovo, but also an important Serbian nationalist and political centre. And a place to baptise.

Visoki Decani Monastery

It is about 1.5 hours’ drive from Gracanica to the Visoki Decani Monastery, all the way in the west of the country – Kosovo is not very big. Built in the early 14th century by another Numanjic king, Stefan Dečanski – who was buried in the church even before it was finished – the monastery is located in a beautiful spot beneath the mountains, surrounded by pine and chestnut trees. Here, too, it is amazing that it still exists, not because of an Ottoman onslaught in the 17th Century, which caused relatively little harm, but from 20th and 21st C attacks. First the monastery’s treasures were plundered by Austro-Hungarian troops, who occupied Serbia in the first World War, then by Albanian nationalists and Italian fascists, who planned to destroy the monastery in 1941, to be prevented only by Italian soldiers who rushed to protect it.

During the Kosovo war the monastery offered refuge to people of all ethnicity, first Albanian Kosovars fleeing from Serbian troops, and after the withdrawal of the Serbians in 1999 to Roma, who feared retribution from Albanians for alleged collaboration with the Serbians. The Italians once again came to the rescue, through a KFOR unit, that defended the monastery from several attacks. During the 2004 riots an Albanian mob once again tried to burn down the monastery, which was once again defended by KFOR. Following this the monastery was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list (together with that of Gracenica), as well as to the endangered World heritage sites, as one of the most endangered sites in Europe – let it be obvious why. And let’s be glad that KFOR takes its task seriously: there is a clear presence around the monastery, and for entering we need to leave our passports with the military at the entrance.

The monastery’s church is easily the largest Medieval church in the Balkans. Once again, it is spectacularly decorated with frescoes, from top to bottom, but the most eye-catching element is the enormous iconostasis, carved in great detail and enlivened with lots of icons. And here we have all the time of the world, and we have the church almost to ourselves. Which makes sneaking some photos a little less stressful. Good, because digital support on the internet is not as advanced as in Gracenica. (https://www.decani.org/en/; however, it turns out that Decani, too is covered by the Blagofund site, as are many other Serbian monasteries – great initiative, and check it out! https://www.blagofund.org/)

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