:3)+LVWRULF3XEOLFDWLRQ

7KHDSSOHRIP\H\HLVWKH QHVWIRU\RXUEHDXW\

/MXELVD)ROLF 'HFHPEHU

Original copyright © 2005 by World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations

Copyright © 2017 by Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute

The right of Ljubisa Folic to be identified as the author of this publication is hereby asserted.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the original author(s) and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, its co-founders, or its staff members.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please write to the publisher:

Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute gGmbH Französische Straße 23 10117 Berlin Germany +49 30 209677900 [email protected]

The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty

Ljubisa Folic

Ph.D., Architect of Raska and , and Metohia, The Republic of Serbska

Ljubisa Folic 1 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Originally published 2005 in World Public Forum Dialogue of Civilizations Bulletin 2(1), 117-130.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 2 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Part I1

For many centuries Kosovo- been the integral part of Serbian territory, Serbian history, Serbian culture, Serbian memory; part of our national identity.

Kosovo-Metohija, the land that has experienced lies, injustice and violence moves the heart of every honest and fair man all over the world. Kosovo-Metohija is also known as a treasury of art and architecture: the masterpieces such as the Holy Virgin of Ljeviska, the Patriarchate of Pec, the Gracanica and Decani monasteries, as well as other Kosovo shrines, hold top places in world’s catalogues of art under the name of the Byzantine and Kosovo style and King Milutin’s monumental painting style.

We behold the Kosovo drama in all its complexity as it unfolds, like a symphony of many voices ringing with sheer pain.

IF I WERE TO FORGET THEE, KOSOVO, MAY MY OWN RIGHT HAND FORGET ME…2

Serbian Jerusalem. Kosovo-Metohija is the core of the Serbian civilisation, THE HOLY LAND of the Serbian people. It is to the what Jerusalem is to the Jews. Kosovo-Metohija, i.e., the Old , is a question of identity, national, cultural, spiritual, Christian, and humane.

1 Beginning, the second part of this presentation will be published in the next Bulletin. 2 Kosovo-Metohija is like a huge cross looming at the horizon of the third millenium, with the apocalyptic beast basking by its base, embodying the barbarian civilisation, the totalitarian daemonocracy.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 3 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

HISTORICAL REVIEW

The name Kosovo-Metohija came to replace the old toponym Stara Srbija, or the , only after the WWII. Mediaeval sources show that today’s Kosovo consisted of the following zupas, or districts: , Lugovi, Obica, , Lab, Izmornik (Moravica), Ibarski Kolasin, Srednje Poibarje and Sirinic. Today’s Metohija consisted of Hvosno, Pecki Podgor, Prekoruplje, Drskovina, Reke, Podrimlje Trnavu, Patkovo (now Has), Prizrenski Podgor and Prizrensko Polje with assigned Sar-planina zupas Sredska, and Opolje. The territory between Prizren and Skadar was called Pilot.

In the 16th and the 17th centuries all these places were collectively known as Serbia. Venetian envoy Jacobo Sorenzo, crossing the river Drim (in today’s ) in 1575, wrote that he had entered Serbia. The archbishop of Bar Marin Bici in 1610, bishop Petar Mazareki in 1623 and the archbishop Djordje Bjanki in 1638 witnessed the same.

After the two Serbian rebellions in 1804 and 1813 and the founding of the Kingdom of Serbia continuing into the Yugoslavian Kingdom after the WWI, the term Stara Srbija appeared in documents. It also appeared on Austrian, Russian and German maps, military charts, in scientific books and diplomatic correspondence.

For a long time Serbian churches and monasteries owned lots of fertile land. The name Metohija originates from the Greek word metochos, or the church land; it first appeared in Ottoman documents in the middle the 17th century. By introducing this name, the Turks meant to eliminate the Serbian name Hvosno, which arose patriotic feelings and fed hopes for restoring Serbian independence3.

3 The KOSOVO OATH brought by the Serbs articulates our will as Christians and humans, our historical path and our natural aspiration for renovation of our homes, our freedom, our dignity, our spirits, our Biblical

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 4 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

THE SERBS IN KOSOVO-METOHIJA

In the course of the great migration of the Indoeuropean peoples, the Serbs settled in today’s Kosovo in the 7th century, and after adopting the Christianity in the 9th century they were finally included in the Christian civilisation centered on the Orthodox , inheriting from it the tradition of zaduzbinarstvo, or charity. Many hospitals, orphanages, bridges, wells and churches stood across the land through this custom4.

Therefore, the Serbs have been there since the Slavs first came to the , by far constituting the majority of locals all through the Middle Ages and into the modernity, confirmed by archaeological findings, linguistic facts such as old toponyms, as well as anthropological, historical and other data.

The Serbs populated the Byzantine territory, forming enclaves of their own were called Sklavinias. After adopting Christianity, they started forming princedoms, until in the middle of the 12th century the Nemanici dynasty entered the scene. (1114-1200) was the first Serbian ruler to organise an independent state. It already included Kosovo-Metohija (then Stara Srbija), confirmed in St. Sava’s Life of Stefan Nemanja. Early in the 13th century Ras was abandoned, ceding the main role in political life to Prizren, under rulers Milutin and Dusan, and . Rulers’ palaces such as Pauni, Rodimlja, Nerodimlje, Stimlje, Svrcin and Petric earned Kosovo fame.

Christian patriotism for both heavens and earth (Hebr. 12:22-24) that means theandric conciliarism of all men and all peoples in the Christ. 4 “for lithurgy of both this world and the next world to be chanted therein”, cherishing literature, philosophy and science in bishops’ residences and monasteries, alongside with piety and theology.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 5 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Towns and Churches

Some eighty mediaeval Serbian towns, around which diplomatic, political and court life prospered, tell a lot.

The most famous towns are Zvecan, towering over the Ibar and the mining basin Trepca, Visegrad on the boisterous Prizrenska Bistrica, Nova Brdo – a Serbian Ruhr once boasting its 40,000 inhabitants, Brnjaci where Queen Helen de Anjou founded the first girls’ school in Serbia, Veletin near miners’ town , Calije near the Sar-planina mountain, Vojnovic palace in the centre of Vucitrn. In Svrcin, the famous Serbian Emperor Dusan was first crowned in 1331, and Pauni, famous for its beauty, was very favored by King Milutin. Nerodimlja, with the fortress of Petric over the , was favorite residence of Stefan Decanski. It is in the Stimlje castle that King Uros issued the enactments. In Ribnik, near Prizren, were the of Serbian Emperors Dusan and Uros.

Existence of towns such as Pristina, Pec, Hoca, Vucitrn and others prove the affluence of court life in Serbian land. Prizren, for example, was a famous economic and commercial center, with developed silk production, fine crafts, and numerous settlements where the merchants from Kotor and Dubrovnik had their houses, and in the 14th century, Prizren was the site of the consul from Dubrovnik for the entire Serbian state. Now the Serbs abandoned this open-air museum, the town was burnt down. Pearls of old architecture, folk art and ethnographic rarities are now reduced to barely their tenth part. (photo)

Among those churches and monasteries, in and off towns, there are dozens of churches and monasteries of imposing size, proud beauty of design, with genius

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 6 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” wall painting, splendid interior and luxurious sacristies. There are few similar masterpieces in Europe and in the world as well (the Pec Patriarchate, the Gracanica, the Decani, the Holy Virgin of Ljeviska, the St. Archangels, the Crkolez, the Budisavci… and some two hundred destroyed and desecrated shrines listed in the book The Crucified Kosovo). There have been build ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED FIFTY churches and monasteries from the 12th to the 21st centuries. The pain this land is suffering, ignored by the Christian Europe, lasted since the Ottoman rule, continuing with the half-century-long Communist rule and the present-day NATO-Albanian oppression at the dawn of the third millenium.

The 1485 Ottoman census listed 79 settlements in Drenica, and 85 churches and monasteries scattered every 2 or 4 kilometers away from each other.

Only in the neighbourhood Cicavice, rightfully dubbed the Serbian Holy Mountain, the 1525/6 and the 1544/5 Ottoman censuses registered “a total of 52 churches and monasteries, of which 38 lots are registered; while folk saying has it that there are 77 wells, 77 streams and 77 churches in Cicavice.”

In the town of Prizren and its surroundings, as legends have it, there were as many churches as there are days in a year – 365. Throughout the 20th century, 127 sites were located in that area:

- 26 in Prizren;

- 16 in Sredacka Zupa;

- 21 in and around Musutiste;

- 12 in Velika Hoca;

- 13 in Ljubizda and Gornja Srbica;

- 3 in Orahovac;

- 11 in Sirinicka Zupa;

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 7 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

- 14 in Islamised Zupa Gora;

- 12 in Opolje.

Lots of villages and territories (a total of 172 (photo)) across Metohija as well as a large part of Kosovo were given as gifts from Serbian lords and rulers to great monasteries, like the , the Studenica, the Banjska, the Gracanica, the Holy Virgin of Ljeviska, the Decani and the St. Archangels, confirmed by edicts, a tangible proof that the Serbian people dwelled in Kosovo5.

Zvecan is one of the most strategically valuable and famous mediaeval towns. Founded in the late 9th century, it became known as Ras town from the 11th century. Ruins of a palace remain uptown, as well as ruins of the 12th century churches with fragments of plaster frescoes.

Ruins of an old church, once known as the Church of Sas, dating back to the middle of the 13th century, stand on the Old Square. This three-nave building was a cross of Byzantine and Gothic styles. Regretfully, this property of the mining family Sas is now reduced to an apse with two remaining layers of wall painting dating

5 These monasteries – monuments of faith, spirit and culture – were built to spread peace by the presence of holy kings and archbishops’ hallows, as well as by the presence of monks who were to live there, struggling for the spirituality of their people. That is why those kings’ gifts were real land marks of the Serbian land” (Dimitrije Bogdanovic, The Kosovo Question – Past And Present) Turks attacked the heart of Serbian people, its state and church in Kosovo, where they met the strongest resistance (35,000 died) in a fateful battle fought not only for the Serbs but also for all Christian peoples. The Kosovo Battle, fought on St. Vitt’s Day (or Vidovdan), June 15/28, 1389, was and still is the central event in the whole course of Serbian history. Those who died in it died “for eternal life”; both leaders of the opposing armies, King Lazar and Sultan Murat, died as well. On the battlefield, over 12 hectares wide, Kosovo peonies (a botanical rarity) grow out of blood shed by the brave Kosovo heroes. The Kosovo choice was the choice in favour of the kingdom of heaven, while the battle itself symbolises the Christian struggle of Serbs for freedom and dignity of a nation. They were defeated, but it was not an ultimate defeat; it strengthened their will and creativity, embodied in a constellation of churches in Kosovo- Metohija. Along with these great shrines with their precious frescoes and sacristies, there are also small churches, ruins, hermitages, remnants of towns and castles, icons and iconostases, edicts and decrees, scriptoriums and typographies, inscriptions, church bells and vessels, books, holy plane trees.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 8 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” back to the 13th and 14th centuries. The older layer depicts soldiers near a sarcophagus and Communion of the Disciples.

The old town of Drepca is mentioned as early as in 1303 in records stored in Dubrovnik archives. It was a big township with a settlement of Sas miners; the consul of Dubrovnik lived here.

In Ibarski Kolasin there are remnants of many mediaeval objects like gravestones, church buildings, fortresses and palaces. In Brnjak, there are remnants of the famed palace of Queen Helen de Anjou, King Uros’ French-descent wife, buried here in 1314. In this “glorious palace of Brnjak” she founded the first permanent girls’ schools where household arts were actually first taught in the Balkans. Archbishop Danilo wrote about that.

Between villages Dobrosevina and Citluk there is a church re-built in the 17th century. The one-nave building on a rectangular basement has a semicircular dome with no cupola. There is a manuscript belonging to the Resa School and a collection of Bozidar Vojvoda (Vukovic) printed in 1538 in , in the printshop of Mojac of Decani.

In the village of Crepulje there is a 14th century church with a semicircular dome, built of stone, limestone and plaster. Fragments of wall painting done by Pec Patriarchate artists remain. Remains of a monastery in Cpilj with a church and a large tower (with a 1492 inscription) on a spacious mediaeval graveyard are prominent. Among 300 grave stones and sarcophagi, two are prominent with inscriptions and faces carved on them.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 9 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Drenica is situated between Kosovo and Metohija plains. The central town in Donja (or Lower) Drenica is Srbica. Five kilometres south of Srbica there is Devic monastery [5], built by Djuradj Brankovic (1427-1456) and painted in the 16th and 19th centuries. During the WWII the monastery was set on fire and destroyed by local , to be restored in 1953.

Just off Srbica, in villages Leocina and , near Rudnik, there are several old rural churches. These are the St. Jovan Church [87] and the Transfiguration Chruch in Leocina, both built in the 14th century, and the 14th century St. Djordje Church in Belica. A 14th century oak-carved cross in Leocina holds significant value as a beautiful donated object of mediaeval art.

In Vucitrn, there is the 14th century Vojnovic tower, all that remains of a mediaeval town. Off town, there is an old mediaeval stone bridge built in the 14th century, with nine arches and stone banisters.

In Samodreza, there is a 14th century church [17] that a folk song mentions in connection with the Kosovo Battle (“Samodreza white church”). King Lazar’s army received communion there before engaging in the fight.

The Monument of Kosovo heroes [75] was built in 1953 where the great Kosovo Battle was fought. Standing 25 metres tall, it dominates the entire field.

Two kilometres away from Gracanica, in the ruins of ancient Ulpijana, multiple fragments of the 6th century Slav ceramics were excavated. In the Gracanka river valley, near village Matican, traces of a graveyard with the 9th to

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 10 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

11th century Slav culture objects were found. Pristina reached the peak of its development in the 14th and 15th centuries when the capital of mediaeval Serbia moved there. Pristina had the King Milutin’s Palace that had in it state council hall, trial hall etc. This palace was described by Jovan Kantakuzin whom in 1342 Emperor Dusan welcomed as guest in Pristina.

Mediaeval documents mention that there were lots of Orthodox churches in Pristina. The only one surviving now is the St. Nikola Church [112], built early in the 19th century on the basement of an older church. But the new one was set ablaze and flattened on March 17, 2004, together with the 1832 iconostasis (work of Debar artists) and the 19th century icon. (photo)

At the base of Veletin, in a north-western basin, there are remains of the 14th century Saskovac monastery and church. There are records of Patriarch Paisije’s stay in this monastery in 1680. North of Veletin, there are remains of the great 14th century Vojsilovica monastery.

Novo Brdo, renowned under King Milutin as a mining and trading centre where roads to Constantinople, Thessaloniki and Dubrovnik met, is mentioned in 1326 as a densely populated town with 12,000 houses and 40,000 dwellers. reached prosperity thanks to its affluent gold and silver mines. A traveler noted in his diary: “There’s so much gold and silver around Novo Brdo that you can plough it out of the earth.” Silver coins were minted in Novo Brdo, this fact was first mentioned in 1349. Silver coins with the faces of Stefan and Lazar that came from Novo Brdo still exist. Even in the 15th century Novo Brdo mines worked at an output of 200,000 golden ducats per year. A copy of King Stefan Lazarevic’s decree on mining and a copy of Novo Brdo municipal legal code dating back to 1412

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 11 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” survived to this day. Novo Brdo remained an important mining centre under the Ottoman rule.

In Novo Brdo’s spacious outskirts there are now remains of old houses, streets and churches. The St. Nikola Cathedral had a large main nave with a cupola and a narrower annex chapel. Its apse is semicircular both from inside and outside, with rich architecture and painted inner walls. Many fragments of stone decorations resembling Moravian schools are intact. The whole building resembles Decani. Turks transformed the church into a mosque. East of the fortress, there is a simple Jovac Church which apse is semicircular inside and triangular outside. The walls were painted inside and decorated with stone artwork outside.

Near the village Bostana in Lab there was also the Vrhlab, King Milutin’s Palace. In September 1302, the peace treaty with Dubrovnik was signed there, reaffirming the privileges that Dubrovnik merchants had obtained previously.

On the banks of a lake in the villages Orlane and Balaban there are remains of two churches of the 14th and 16th centuries. In the village Braina, not far from the lake, there are remains of the Holy Virgin of Braina Church that under the 14th century decree was dedicated to the Russian St. Panteleymon Monastery on Athos by Emperor Dusan and his son Uros.

In , there is an old 14th century church built on the basement of an early Byzantine basilica with fragments of the 14th and 16th century wall painting.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 12 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

In Urosevac, there is a church [15] with a collection of the 16th century icons. On the south-western edge of the Kosovo plain there are villages Gornje Nerodimlje and Donje Nerodimlje. The St. Archangels Church has the 14th century frescoes [7] and an Emperor Dusan pine-tree, the last leftover of a mediaeval park. Not far away from there are the remains of the mediaeval town of Petric. Strpce straddles the Kaludjerska stream with its five dozens small water mills. In Sirinicka Zupa there are remains of the 13th century fortress Cajlija, while Strpce, Gotovusa, Sevac and Jazinac have mediaeval churches with the 16th to 18th century icons.

Not far away from Gnjilane, near the village Malisevo, there are traces of an early Byzantine settlement, while in Kmetevac, among century-old oaks, there are remains of the 14th century St. Varvara Church dedicated to the protector of miners. In the villages Silovo, Trpeza and Smira there are remains of a settlement and a monastery. The mediaeval St. Archangel Mikhail Monastery [4] with the 14th century frescoes and living rooms for pilgrims survived in the village of Buzovik up to 1999.

To the south-east of Kosovska , near the village Mocar, there is the 13th-14th century Ubozac Monastery. It is built on a triangular basement and topped with a single cupola, imitating the Holy Mountain. Its walls are decorated with ceramic artwork. Between the villages Strezovce and Vaganes there are remains of the Holy Virgin Monastery built in 1355, during the Emperor Dusan’s rule. The building has an annex chapel and two layers of the 14th and 15th century frescoes on the walls. Near the village Ajnovce (Recane) there are remains of a great monastery Tamnica. The church has a single nave of irregular shape. Partially survived frescoes hold significant artistic and aesthetic value.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 13 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

In the villages Djurdjevik, Pustinik, Blac and Gracani in the Kacanik gorge there are remains of mediaeval churches.

MEDIAEVAL CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS CENTRE

The town of Pec is situated on the northern edge of the fertile Metohija plain cut by a network of rivers and streams descending from towering mountains. Steep slopes of Prokletija loom over the town like a rampart; the river Bistrica flows through it.

On the Idvorac, a nearby mountain, remains of large towers and fortified walls with basements for more towers were found. Traces of populated places were discovered elsewhere. Ruins of the St. Dimitrije Church lie not far away from the Pec Patriarchate; ruins of the St. Mark Church and the St. Nikola Church are found in the village Ljevosa with six more small churches and old buildings and wells. There are a dozen of the 13th and 14th century hermitages on both banks of the Pecka Bistrica. An old patriarch’s graveyard lies near the monastery.

These facts prove that the monastery used to have a large territory, including slopes of surrounding mountains and hermitages in the Rugova gorge, some of which had wall paintings. There is a copper engraving made by Georgije Stojanovic in 1745 portraying that cultural and religious centre; now it is kept in the Pec Patriarchate sacristy.

On a hill between the villages Studenica and Vrelo there are remains of a monastery known as Mala Studenica, or Hvostanska Studenica. It is an old

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 14 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” monastery where as early as in 1219 the bishop of Hvosno had permanent residence. The church belongs to the Ras style; the central nave and the transept with numerous decorations are outstanding. There are four more churches, refectories, corner towers and a graveyard around the main church.

In Djurakovac there is the St. Nikola Church, painted in 1592, holding a collection of icons and manuscripts.

On the bank there is the 14th century Gorioc Monastery. The church contains a valuable collection of icons and mediaeval books, some of which were accepted by the St. Petersburg library in 19th century.

In the village near Rudnik, in the St. Nikola Church, there is a generously decorated sarcophagus with an inscription and floristic ornament made by lord of Rodop. In that village, the famous bell of Rodop was found, made in 1432 and now kept in Pec Patriarchate sacristy.

In the village Crkolez there is the St. Jovan Church, built in 1395 by governor Novak. Its wall painting was made in 1673, under Patriarch Maksim. The frescoes are in good condition; artist Radul who made it also made frescoes in the St. Nikola church in the Pec Patriarchate. Two of his icons, the St. Kozma and Damian and the St. Nikola, are kept in the Pec Patriarchate sacristy.

On the outskirts of the village Rudink there is a 14th century church [57].

In the village Belo Polje near Pec, in a church [14], there is a large number of the 17th and 18th century icons, and in Gorazdevac there is the St. Nikola Church,

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 15 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” a unique wooden construction built in the16th century with no metal components. The church has a peculiar iconostasis. It is essential for learning more about the Pec Patriarchate art (restored in 1577) to examine rural churches in the Beli Drim valley. They were built by self-taught architects from peasants, monks, priests and artists in an attempt to continue art tradition in the 16th and 17th century after it was broken in the middle of the 15th century. In Drsnik there is an old graveyard church [18] and near the village there is a monastery dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin [10]. On the rural graveyard in Kijev [34], Cabic [101] and Mlecani [84] there are remains of the 14th and 16th century single-nave churches, while on the mountain Petrovica, over Dobra Voda, there are remains of the St. Peter and Paul Monastery that was there as early as in the 13th century. It was built of river stone and plaster. Before being re-built it had raised decorations. There are still fragments of two layers of frescoes inside, dating back to the 13th and 16th century respectively. In the neighbouring village of Podgradje there are remains of the 14th century St. Vrac Church [102] with surviving 16th century rural painting. There are also remains of a graveyard church nearby. On a hill over the village there used to be a mediaeval town known as Kninac.

In the village Sicevo there are remains of the St. Nikola Church with some beautifully painted frescoes remaining since the 16th century [98].

In Budisavci there is the Transfiguration Church a stone-brick building of harmonic proportions built in the 13th century and renovated in 1568 by Patriarch Makarije Sokolovic. The wall painting dates back to the 16th century, including the portrait of Makarije.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 16 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

In the gorge formed by the river Mirusa with its nine boisterous waterfalls and a row of seven small lakes, there is a nearly inaccessible cave Uljarice which walls were covered by beautiful painting by an unknown artist as early as in the 13th century. The painting depicts the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Disciples. In a neighbouring cave there are fragments of plaster frescoes and parts of a church.

On a hill near the gates of Decani monastery, in a century-old oak grove there are remains of a three-conch church dedicated to St. Nikola, built in 14th century by the holy king.

The river Decanska Bistrica flows by the monastery, and on its left bank there is a buoyant mineral water spring. There is also a romantic gorge elongating from the opposite side of the monastery, with caves of Decani hermits in it. The most important of those are: Stefan Decanski cell, above-ground cell in Belaje and the cave of the Holy Virgin with wall painting and inscriptions. In the village Locane, mentioned in the Decani census released in 1330, there is an old wooden house whence, as the legend has it, flames originated to engulf the monastery buildings.

In the village Bela Crkva, in a place named Pozig, there are remains of early Christian basilicas, Slav graveyards and other objects.

In the Orahovac Church, re-built in the 19th century, there is a collection of icons and epigraphic monuments, there are stone figures on the facade.

In the village Velika Hoca that belonged to the Hilandar Monastery there is a dozen of the 13th and 14th century churches. The St. Nikola Church has three icons:

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 17 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Christ Pantokrator, signed by Longin, the Holy Virgin Hodegetria, and the St. Nikola, authored by the so-called Patriarch school that in the 16th century painted restored churches, creating a gallery of amazing masterpieces. On the St. Nikola icon there is also a portrait of hieromonch Georgije, kneeling and extending hands. Georgije ordered that icon in 1587, the fact declared in an inscription on the icon. In the St. Nikola Church there are two layers of frescoes of the 14th and 16th century respectively, that resemble those in the annex in the Pec Patriarchate. In the St. Jovan Church some 70 square metres of valuable frescoes still remain.

The St. Spas Church in Prizren (photo) was built by Emperor Dusan’s liege Mladen Vladojevic in 1348. The building has a single cupola resting on arches and consoles. The annex has a lower, cruciform ceiling. The church is built of stone and brick and the archivolts of doors and windows are decorated with rows of cruciform ceramic flowers. Walls were painted in the 14th century. The first were frescoes on the altar including the Communion of the Disciples, the Sacrificial Offering and the Enthroned Christ. The rest was made somewhat later. Frescoes in the nave depict the great holidays cycle and the Passions of the Christ.

There is also the 14th century St. Djordje Runovic Church in the town, built on a simple basement with no cupola. It stands in the yard of the 19th century St. Djordje Cathedral. The St. Nikola Rajkoc Church [64] was also built in the 14th century and re-built in the 19th century.

In the fifth decade of the 14th century in Prizren, such objects as the St. Nikola Tutic Church [113] on the old Papas Square and the Prince Mark Church [119] in the suburbs (Potkaljaje) were built.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 18 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

Over the old town, on the hill, there is the ancient township Kaljaja built in the 14th century on the remnants of a Byzantine stronghold. It is a building of an irregular polygonal shape dominating over the entire town and the Prizren plain that stretches towards Pastrik and Prokletija…

Over the monastery there is Gornji Grad, or Visegrad, dominating over the Prizrenska Bistrica gorge. All that survived to our days is a ruined on the summit of rocky cliffs, basement of the St. Djordje Church and remains of multistorey corner towers and fortified walls that descend towards the river.

Near the exit from the gorge there are remains of the Drven-grad stronghold. On the right bank of the Bistrica, one kilometre away from Prizren, there are traces of the St. Nikola Cave Church with some survived frescoes, while on the left bank of the river there is a shrine and a small cave.

Over the Prizrenska Bistrica, on the road linking Prizren and Sredska, Emperor Dusan built in the middle of the 14th century an arched bridge of stone, 13 metres long and 6 metres tall. The bridge is known as the Dusan’s bridge.

In Sredacka Zupa, in the village Musnikovo, there is the St. Peter and Paul Church, built in 1564. Fragments of frescoes and a significant collection of icons are kept there. In Dragici, Sredska, Bogosevci and Gornje Selo there are churches with the 16th century frescoes and icons.

In Prizrenski Podgor there is the cell of Petar Koriski in a cave where the Koriska stream forms a deep gorge, near a ruined monastery. The cell contains two

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 19 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” layers of wall painting. The earlier layer, dating back to the 12th century, subsists only in the cave itself, and while the later, the 14th century one, is also on the walls near the entrance. In the outskirts of the village Korisa there are remains of several more churches with parts of the 14th-16th century frescoes. In the St. Mark Church [3] a copy of Prizren edition of the Dusan Code was found. The St. Nikola Church had a copy of Dusan’s St. Archangels decree, one of the most significant documents in legal history and literature.

A road leading off the Suva crosses the village Musutiste where the Holy Virgin Church [2] stands, built by lord Dragoslav in 1315. The building is cross- based with a single cupola; wall painting belongs to Milutin school. The church is now in ruins.

On the elevated plain near Donja Likopoljana mountain, over Musutiste, there is the 14th century St. Trinity Monastery and ruins of the same-era Rusenica cell. Five cells with small churches can be found in the gorge formed by the stream Matoski, flowing across Musutiste.

In the village Recane, two kilometres away from the Suva Reka, there is the 14th century St. Djordje Church [97], a single-nave building whose cupola rests on semi-columns. The 14th century wall painting is vivid and brimming with colour. To the north-west of the Suva Reka, on the fifth kilometre, in the village Pecani there are remains of the mediaeval Presentation of the Holy Virgin Monastery dating back to the first half of the 15th century, built through the charity the ruler Djurdje Brankovic and his family. The church contained remains of frescoes and old graves. Cells with traces of frescoes can also be found over the monastery.

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 20 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty”

AFTERWORD TO PART I

After 76 days of bombardments of Serbia and (beginning on March 24, 1999), the international NATO forces transformed into “peace-keeping” forces, entered Kosovo-Metohija so as to ensure peace and security for everybody there. Since then, over 350,000 Serbs escaped or were driven out of their homes; some three thousand were killed or kidnapped by Albanian extremists; over 60,000 houses were burnt down.

Over the last five years alone, in the presence of elite NATO forces, the UN civilian administration, numerous humanitarian NGOs and thousands of newsmen, parallel with the expulsion of Serbian Orthodox population, among all sorts of violence and villainy – people get thrown on the street, mugged, raped, kidnapped, killed and massacred. This systematic eradication of the Serbian spirit continued reaching its peak on March 17 to 19, 2004, when in a single day many churches have been destroyed, including such masterpieces as the 14th century Holy Virgin of Ljeviska Cathedral, the St. Spas Church, the St. Archangel Monastery, the St. Nikola Tutic Church, the St. Nedelja, the 19th century St. Djordje Runovic in Prizren, the Devic Monastery in Srbica, the St. Martyr Djordje Church in Prizren, the St. John Baptist Conception Church in Pecka Banja, the Holy Virgin Presentation Church in Belo Polje near Pec, the Holy Virgin Assumption Church with the parish in Djakovica, the St. King Uros Church in Urosevac, the St. Nikola Church in Belo Polje near Pec, the St. Katarina Church in Bresje near Kosovo Polje, the St. Nikola Church in Gnjilane, the St. Sava Church in Kosovska Mitrovica, a church in Vitina near Gnjilane, a church in Donja Slapasnica in Kosovska Kamenica, a church in Brnjak near Bela Crkva – Orahovac, the St. Ilije Church in Vucitrn, the St. Archangel Michael Church in Stimlje, the Birth of Holy Virgin church in Obilic, the St. King Lazar Church in Piskoti near Djakovica, the oldest, St. Cyril and Methodius theology school in Prizren – a 19th century school building,

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”

Ljubisa Folic 21 “The apple of my eye is the nest for your beauty” the oldest in the Balkans, Bishop Palace in Prizren, landmine-infested ruins of the St. Trinity Church in Djakovica. The eradication of the Serbian spirit is still going on, by means of robbery, demolishing and burning.

[The numbers in brackets refer to the nomenclature in the book The Crucified Kosovo]

WORLD PUBLIC FORUM BULLETIN 2(1), 2005 “DIALOGUE OF CIVILIZATIONS”