one of the most characteristic buildings in Prizren is the Turkish hamam
Although Prizren was also damaged during the Kosovo War, it somehow escaped the worst of destruction, and is nowadays called the museum town, on account of its Ottoman heritage houses. Museum town is pushing it, but it is a pleasant city, with charming old centre along the Lumbardhi River – a different Lumbardhi River than the one that comes down the Rugova Valley, but that is what you get if you call your rivers White River indiscriminately.
on the way to Prizren we stopped at the pretty Terzi Bridge, a 15th C Ottoman bridge facilitating the passage of merchants on the road between Constantinople and Shkodra in Albania
for a long time this was the longest bridge in Kosovo, spanning 193 meters
the best known historical reference point in Prizren is another stone bridge
nice at sunset, because of the white houses, red-roofed, in the distance
obviously, with so many tourists flocking here, the bridge is favoured by all kind of sellers
a beautiful setting, including the fort on top of the hill
well maintianed, impressive Turkish hamam – although it was closed to the public when we visited
the Emin Pasha mosque, one of the prettiest in Prizren
for its outside porch, richly decorated
with flower and plant motifs
but also inside, the mosque is richly painted
There is the Stone Bridge, which is a major attraction at sunset, because of the pretty neighbourhood behind it, with lots of cute white, red-roofed houses. There is an old Turkish hammam, and several pretty mosques; quite a few old houses, many of them not so well maintained, unfortunately.
with an impresive ceiling, even
this is another mosque
famous for its wooden porch
not all the houses in Prizren are equally well maintained
which is a shame, because they have their own distinct type of decoration
one of the restored Ottoman buiuldings at the Albanian League of Prizren museum
and another one, with access to the paintings collection
The League
The historically most important building – fully restored again, after Serbian destruction during the war – is that of the Albanian League of Prizren. This collective of Albanian leaders was formed after the Russian-Turkish war of 1878, which weakened the Ottoman dominance of its Balkan territories significantly. The League tried to convince the powers to be that the various Albanian-inhabited territories should be united in one country, but unfortunately, they failed, and were decisively beaten militarily in 1881. Otherwise perhaps ethnic tensions like the ones seen in Macedonia from 2001 onwards, and even worse, those in Serbia and Kosovo since 1989, leading to the bloody Kosovo War, could possibly have been avoided. The building now is a museum, mildly entertaining with ethic costumes and utensils, as well as a collection of mostly not very good paintings with an Albanian theme.
of which this is an example showing Prizen and its stone bridge, fort in the background
ohh, and before I forget, even in tiny, and largely muslim Kosovo they make their own wine
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