In Prizren, Kosovo

The first thing I note about Prizren as I walk to my hostel is the picturesque location. A small stream running through the centre part of town with built up walking paths on either side, a series of bridges crossing between the Old Town and New town Prizren. Up above, high on a cliff overlooking the central Prizren is the old Fortress. It makes for a stunning visual and I find myself taking more pictures than are really necessary.

I take a walking tour later in the afternoon of my visit. The history of Prizren and Kosovo are deeply entwined. The tour takes you to the Great Mosque, but also past a number of lesser mosques, the largest Hammam in Kosovo, which is being restored after damage in a series of wars since the early 20th century, and to a few churches which are in reconstruction after violence broke out in 2019 resulting in the art inside being largely burnt. The Albanian League building was also part of the tour which I visit later to learn more about how, in the 1870’s Prizren was a primary location for much of the Albanian-speaking Balkan nations and became a headquarters of sorts. This did result in conflict and the bombing and burning of the site I visited. The site had been restored to the same specifications of the building from 150 years ago and were now a museum to the 1870-1880s in Prizren and the work of the Albanian League.

The older history of Prizren was also on display. I walked up to the Fortress a couple times. Beautifully situated on a peak of a smaller hill surrounded by valleys and the Sharr mountains to the south, it looked out over the plains past Prizren revealing a wide area of western Kosovo. It was clear why various tribes, the Illyriuns, the Romans, and the Ottomans all used this site. Much of the evidence of this history was in a small but interesting archeology museum. Built in a repurposed Hammam it walked through the historical ages with a wide range of historical items on display. I couldn’t walk up a clock town that was at the site as it was being prepared for an art show, but the setting of this museum made it more interesting.