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Travel to Kosovo and Metohija is surely an outstanding experience...

HISTORY, CULTURE, ART, MONUMENTS of Kosovo and Metochia

Kosovo and Metohija is the central area of the Serbian civilization. The name Kosovo is connected with the ancient geographical meaning of Kosovo Polje /Kosovo Field/ which is the vast plain around rivers of Sitnica and Lab and comes from the word "kos" /blackbird/. An official census of Kosovo and Metohija lists 1446 towns and villages. According to the 19th and the 20th century research 162 sites from this region were declared cultural heritage of extreme importance while 500 others were classified as cultural monuments and over 1400 were listed as the cultural heritage of importance to Serbian people in this country. In the thousand year long-history of Serbs, Kosovo and Metohija were for many centuries the state center and the chief religious stronghold, the heartland of the Serbian culture and spring well of its historical traditions. For people who lived longer under foreign rule than in their own state, Kosovo and Metohija are the foundations on which national and state identity were preserved in times of tribulation and founded in times of freedom /Dusan T.Batakovic/.

In early periods of settlement, assimilation of the native population and adoption of Christianity during the fourth Crusaders’ invasion, processes of ethno genesis, civilizational transformation and organization of society and the state of the Serbian people were taking place in the Raska-and-Zeta and Kosovo and Metohija-Kosovo nuclei, i.e. in regions away from large valleys and main routes ruled by Byzantine Empire. Kosovo became a constituent part of Serbia at the end of the 12th century during the rule of its founder Stefan Nemanja. The First Serbian Archbishop Saint Sava established Bishoprics in ancient Ulpiana and Prizren. Sheltered by the high and seemingly impassable mountainous enclosure of Prokletije Mt. /2.656m/, Shara Mt. /Sar-planina 2.651m/ and Kopaonik Mt. /2.017m/, the area of Kosovo and Metohija is at the time easy to approach via a number of natural corridors which have throughout history been open to the incoming influences of different civilizations.

This area is the crossroads of more than eight directions, some of which used to be major lines of communications in the middle ages between Europe and the Adriatic Sea, and Near and/or Middle and Far East. Complex geo-historical conditions, pronounced geomorphological plasticity with numerous gorges and canyons, and high mountains, its specific position at the contact point of coastal and continental parts of the Balkans, and being the hydro graphic center of the Balkan peninsula – all these elements contribute to fascinating natural riches and the diversity of wildlife in Kosovo and Metohija, thus defining the region as one of the major centers of European biodiversity.

Studded with more churches and monasteries than any other Serbian land /the identified presence of 1.500 monuments of Serbian culture/, Kosovo and Metohija became the spiritual nucleus of Serbs and was always treated as the birthplace of Serbia. For a time Serbia rivaled the Byzantine Empire in Europe, and at its greatest extent in the mid-fourteenth century stretched from the Danube River to the Corinthian Gulf, and from Thrace to the Adriatic coast. Lying at the crossroads of the main Balkan routes connecting the surrounding Serbian lands of Raska, Bosnia, Zeta and the Scutari littoral with the Macedonia and the Morava region, Kosovo and Metohija were, geographically speaking, the ideal place for a state and cultural center. Girfled by mountain gorges and comparatively safe from outside attacks, Kosovo and Metohija were not chosen by chance as the site for building religious centers, church mausoleums and palaces. Serbian rulers were in constant touch with big cities, especially Salonica, and were able to invite the best artists and craftsmen. The rise of mural painting corresponded with the last decade of King Milutin’s rule /+1321/ : almost all aristocratic houses and memorials were ornamented by either two famous painters from Salonica, Michael Astrapa and Evtichios, or someone from their circle. The rich holdings of Decani Monastery provided and economic underpinning for the wealth of spiritual activities in the area. The art heritage from the early 14th century found in the monuments to Stefan Decanski and Tzar Dusan formed a basis for local craftsmen to learn, and this can be seen in the example of the gorgeous large Church of Christ Panthocrator in Decani where local craftsmen and artists produced the richest examples of Byzantine art. Educated monks and religious dignitaries assembled in large monastic communities /which were well provided for by the rich feudal holdings/, strongly influenced the spiritual shaping of the nation, especially in strengthening local cults and fostering the Orthodox doctrine.

The term Metohija was derived from the Greek word "metoch" - meaning church property. /Dusan T.Batakovic/.

The former name of this historically Christian territory was Hvosno.

The Raska Diocese /Eparchy/ is first mentioned in the 2nd chrysobull of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (976-1025), from the year 1020. It was, at the time, part of the Ohrid Archdiocese and it encompassed the Serbian territory around the rivers Raska, Ibar and Lim. The Prizren Diocese is mentioned in 1019, in a chrysobull of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II. The Diocese included the town of Prizren with the surroundings, Hvosno /the part around Decani and Pec/ and the area around the rivers Beli and Crni Drim. It became part of the independent Serbian Archdiocese in 1219. The Hvosno region came under special Hvosno Diocese with the seat in the Monastery of Mala Studenica, north-east of Pec.In 1219, under Archbishop Sava, it became part of the autocephalous Archdiocese of Zica. With the establishment of the Patriarchate of Pec, 1346, it was raised to the status of the Metropolinate. With the Serb Orthodox Church being elevated to the level of the Patriarchate, the Prizren Diocese acquired the status of a Metropolitanate. The old Hvosno and Lipljan Dioceses, i. e. that of Gracanica /Novo brdo/, were added to the Prizren Diocese after 1766. The Patriarchate of Pec was established at the end of the 13th century when the seat of the Serbian Church was moved from Zica to Pec. It was abolished in 1766 and joined with the Prizren and Skenderia Dioceses, and later with the Raska Diocese.

After the old Serbia was liberated from the Turks, in 1912, the Pec Diocese was re-established. In 1808 the Prizren Diocese was joined with the Diocese of Raska thus forming the Raska and Prizren Diocese, which has been in existence as such ever since. Its seat is in Prizren.The shrines from the Raska and Prizren Diocese have always been a prey to various invaders and enemies of the Serbian people.

Desecration and destruction began with the Turks and continued with Albanians /Shqiptars/to sharp the differences and historical enmities. A number of churches were converted into mosques. The old Christian sites served as the base for Muslim places of worship. Material from the original Serbian shrines was used for building mosques. At the beginning of the 17th century Sinan-pasha of Prizren built a huge mosque in this town using the material from the destroyed Monastery of the Holy Archangels, the foundation of Tsar Dusan. The League of Prizren in 1878 sought to create a Greater Albania autonomous from the Ottoman Empire throughout Albania, Kosovo, parts of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece. This was promoted at the Congress of Berlin, and the Second League of Prizren in 1943. Ethnic and religious differences, sharpened over centuries by real and perceived aggression, have repeatedly provided bases for radical political action and mortal conflict.

UNESCO Sights in Kosovo and Metochia

Kosovo and Metohija is part of the heartland of medieval Serbia, whichfor a time rivaled the Byzantine Empire in Europe, and at its greatestextent in the mid-fourteenth century stretched from the Danube River tothe Corinthian Gulf, and from Thrace to the Adriatic coast. Beginningwith Stefan Nemanya, founder of the Nemanya Dynasty, which ruled Serbiafrom the third quarter of the twelfth century to the late fourteenthcentury, the Christian /Serbian Orthodox/ church grew in authority andprosperity along with the evolving Serbian state, as rulers and othernobles built scores of monasteries, royal courts and churches in thetowns, valleys, and mountains of southern Serbia and Kosovo. 

The four edifices of the site reflect the high points of the Byzantine-Romanesque ecclesiastical culture, with its distinct style of wall painting, which developed in the Balkans between the 13th and 17th centuries. The Dečani Monastery was built in the mid-14th century for the Serbian king Stefan Dečanski and is also his mausoleum. The Patriarchate of Peć Monastery is a group of four domed churches featuring series of wall paintings. The 13th-century frescoes of the Church of Holy Apostles are painted in a unique, monumental style. Early 14th-century frescoes in the church of the Holy Virgin of Ljevisa represent the appearance of the new so-called Palaiologian Renaissance style, combining the influences of the eastern Orthodox Byzantine and the Western Romanesque traditions. The style played a decisive role in subsequent Balkan art.There are 25 monasteries within the Diocese of Ras-Prizren and Kosovo-Metohija, amongst them 17 living Monasteries, three in reconstruction /revitalization/ and 5 devastated, but the explosion of spirituality and monastic behavior in those regions in the last thirty years enhanced the spiritual enlightenment of the Serbian people, supporting their strength and faith to overcome the temptations and unbeleivable suffering.

Important for travelers to Kosovo and Metohija : You can enter Kosovo from Serbia, but you cannot enter Serbia from Kosovo. Those travelers have not passed through a Serbian border checkpoint.
 

Saint George Order

Serbian Medieval culture was very advanced. Many traditions of Western world are based on the Serbian and Slavic in general cultural achievements. One of those achievements, based on Slavic heritage is Sacred Order of the Dragon of Saint George- mighty protector of Christianity, Slavs and whole White race. This Earth have not seen Sacred Order which was glorious as this one. There wasn’t Sacred Order with members famous and controversial as members of this Order. All were willing to die for honor and given word. Many of them die. Our Lord Jesus Christ and St. Vitus were witnesses. Order effectively existed about 300 years, and was revived later. Born as Serbian, Order evolved into Slavic Order after call for brotherly support, which was sent from Serbian nobility, because of Ottomans. Soon after, Order become European. Order was always open for Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants. It seams that divisions inside of Christian world did not affect this Order.

``Hardly is there a nation which has met with a sadder fate than the Serbians. From the height of its splendor, when the Empire embraced almost the entire northern part of the Balkan peninsula, and a large portion of what is now Austria, the Serbian nation was plunged into abject slavery, after the fateful battle of 1389 at the Kosovo Polje, against the overwhelming Asian hordes. Europe can never repay the great debt it owes to the Serbians for checking, by the sacrifice of their liberty, that barbarous influx.``NIKOLA TESLA 

......To Serbs, Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia, legitimized by the London agreement of 1916 and by UN security council resolution 1244 of 2001. Kosovo is also the historical, religious and emotional heartland of Serbia. The change from a Serb to an Albanian majority does not change its historical, legal and political status.Serbia's claim to Kosovo is no different from Russia's claim to Chechnya, China's to Xinjiang, India's to Kashmir, Thailand's to Panni Marathiwad and Philippines to Mindanao - all Muslim majority provinces in non-Muslim majority states where violence for independence has taken place for decades. The Serb majority of the Krajina region in Croatia broke away and declared independence. They were not recognized. The Krajina Serbs have all been driven out of Croatia in the largest ethnic cleansing of the Yugoslav wars. Republika Srpska has been denied independence from Bosnia. As long as the independence of these provinces are denied, Kosovo has no special right to independence either. Serbia must not be treated differently /Professor George Thomas/.

In the 13th, 14th and the 15th century the Serbs had a many developed medieval society with results in cultural and economic field equal to the achievements of the developed European environing countries. Serbian aristocrats possessed numerous medieval palaces, castles and fortresses, most of which were built on the territory of today's Raska, Kosovo, and Metohia (Svrcin, Pauni, Nerodimlja, Stimlje, Petric, Novo Brdo, Zvecan, Ribnik). Serbian mediveal aristocy had family relaton with many European imperial and royal dynasties, as Byzantin, Bulgarian, French, Italian, German, Russian, Hungarian, Turkish and others. Only in Kosovo and Metohia as a center of Serbian medieval state and society there are over 1.500 Serbian monasteries, churches and other cultural monuments. At that time the Serbs have a developed literature. Their economy is also prosperous (Novo Brdo is the main mining center of the Balkans in the 15th century). Painting was particularly fostered in monasteries, from the 12th to the 14th century. It is in the monasteries of Studenica, Zica, Sopocani, Mileseva, Gracanica, Decani, Patriarchy of Pec, and many others that we have outstanding examples of wall paintings called frescoes. Most of the above mentioned monasteries are under UNESCO`s protection as a part of the world cultural heritage.
http://www.rastko.org.yu/istorija/sanu/ ... Serbs.html

Although legally part of Serbia, Kosovo and Metohija Province, which is inhabited by an ethnic-Albanian majority, has been run by the UN since 1999. That was after the 78 days NATO questionable and controversial intervention called “The Mercy Angel” against the military and civil targets within the whole Serbia in order to “stop the humanitarian catastrophe” in Kosovo and Metohija, when eventually NATO bombs drove out Serb forces accused of atrocities during the two-year war.

NATO killed 1000 Serbian soldiers and policemen, and 2500 civils and 89 kids, and after its aggression there were more than 10000 people wounded. More than 250000 Serbs and 100000 non-Serbs were expelled from the Holy Serbian Land of Kosovo and Metohija.

More than 300.000 Serbs and non-Albanians were driven out and left Kosovo and Metohija and  5000 are executed or declared missing. Since NATO seized the Serbian province of Kosovo in June 1999, completely opening the border to Albania, the gangster-terrorists of the KLA have been installed as government leaders with the official approval of NATO and of the UN organization in Kosovo. This ethnic cleansing of Kosovo has taken place over the past few years, despite the presence of some 27.000 NATO troops and 4.400 international police. KLA terrorists have forced around 300,000 people to leave Kosovo - Serbs, 'Gypsies,' Slavic Muslims, ethnic Turks, Croatians, Jews and ethnic Albanians loyal to Yugoslavia. Those Serbs who have remained live under nightmare conditions coping with extreme sircumstances. The KLA has systematically attacked Serbian Orthodox churches, monasteries and graveyards. More than 110 Serbian Orthodox churches have been badly vandalized, looted and seriously damaged by explosives or reduced to rubble. These buildings were not only treasures of Christianity, masterpieces of an ancient Church; they were also works of art. They belong to the world.

Those who remained in their homes, live in exceptional difficult conditions, without basic human rights, kept isolated in ghettos, although directly administrated by UN : life security, possibility to move from ghettos, right to work, lack of electricity and pharmacy supplies..... Today, only 100,000 Serbs remain in Kosovo and Metohija, living among 1.5 million Albanians.

Encouraged by a promise by former President Bush that US recognition would be forthcoming, Kosovo made a unilateral declaration of indenpendence in February 2008. Kosovo's status is governed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, which envisages only self-government for Kosovo, and acknowledges the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia." Kosovo's status can't be changed without a new resolution.

By Boba Borojevic http://www.serbianna.com/
After a 78-day bombing campaign, which started on March 24 1999, the UN and NATO had negotiated a ceasefire agreement with the Serbian government. Under the terms of UN Resolution 1244, the Albanian guerrillas - known as the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) - were to be disarmed and demobilized by UN troops, who would also ensure the safety of Kosovo's 200,000 ethnic Serb civilians. Resolution 1244 also made it very clear that under the UN Charter, Kosovo would remain the sovereign territory of Serbia.
For the last ten years the US administration has used its influence to sever the province of Kosovo from Serbia and to establish its protectorate of Kosovo ruled by the same Kosovo Albanian thugs named as terrorists by the US State Department in 1988. Although under heavy pressure from the US only 67 countries, including Canada and most members of the European Union and NATO, have recognized Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence proclaimed in February 2008. Over two-thirds of the U.N. member states have not done so, however, including Russia, China, India, Brazil, Spain, Israel, South Africa.

CELEBRATING SPIRITUALITY !

VELIKA HOCA VILLAGE - THE PEARL OF METOHIJA
The village of Velika Hoca, situated 5-6 km south-east from Orahovac and 25 km from Prizren, is one of the oldest settlements in the gentle valley of Metohija. In the earliest records of which can be found, the settlement was granted, together with eight surrounding villages, and first mentioned in the founding charter of King Stefan Nemanja in 1198/99 as the "Hotacka Metohija", the metochion of the Chilandar Monastery. The settlement was established along the line of River of Hoca around the main medieval road, but no detailed archaeological recognition of the whole area to provide data about borders of the inhabited place in the Middle Ages have been carried out. The whole area at the average altitude of 400 m is traditionally rich in wine-growing and wineries, thanks to great number of sunny days. Wine production generated a rich collection of buildings of historical and cultural interest. Velika Hoca is surrounded by the mountain chain of Milanovac Mountain /893m/ from the eastern side, Gradiste Mountain with medieval ruins of Zatric fortification /1039m/ and more than 30 km long Koznik Mountain range, protecting the village and the whole Podrimlje region from the north-east cold winter winds. Since the river and streams valleys open towards the south and west, the region of Velika Hoca is exposed to the impact of the Mediterranean climate. Warm air current spreading over the valley of Beli Drim River has beneficial effect upon agriculture - wine-growing in particular.

All historical and written documents on the village and the area indicate the traditional wine-growing and production of delicious wine and brandy for centuries. The Roman clay jar with cubic capacity between 300 and 400 liters, accidentally found in digging the foundation for a wine-cellar near Vrelo in Velika Hoca and Orahovac, prove that Hoca was populated in the time of the Roman Empire and that its inhabitants were engaged in wine-growing and agriculture. Historic centers of the settlement are related to the churches and wineries and it is evident that the present square between the Decani Winery and the Church of St. Stephen used to be the main public structure and the most developed urban point in the 15th century. The winery /vinica/ is the particular part of the house built for wine production and keeping. Velika Hoca is an extraordinary entity comprising thirteen Christian preserved churches and objects of vernacular architecture forming an extremely valuable complex of cultural and historical interest. One of the oldest is the Church of St. Nicolas built in the 13th century within the village graveyard, besides the stream, and reconstructed in the 16th century. It used to be the administrative center of the Metochy of Hoca. The Church is single-nave without dome, rectangular in plan and barrel-vaulted, built of dressed stone. The church is paved with stone labs. A few meter to the west of the church, a rustic belfry built of dressed stone is seen. The original frescoes covering about 150 sq m are preserved in fragments : the best preserved representing the extraordinary composition of the portrays of Saint Sava and Simeon in the adoration of the icon of the Holy Virgin with the Child. The iconostasis is made by famous medieval painter Longin, around 1557., after the reinstatement of the Patriarchate of Pec. The former Church, today St.John the Baptist Monastery, recognized as the cultural value of exceptional importance dating back to the 14th century, is situated on a spacious plateau on the top of the hill dominating the whole area, on the north-eastern border of the village, besides the strong Vrelo stream. The Hocka River, along the course of which several water mills used to be, begins from this stream, featuring the healing powers, most probably due to the immediate vicinity of the monastery. The ground plan of the church is extraordinary, making the quattrofoil - tetraconchos form. It is the only preserved example of this type of church in Kosovo and Metohija. In the interior, eastern and western apses are somewhat higher and deeper, semicircular, while the northern and southern apses are three-sided in the exterior. Both the nave and the narthex are barrel-vaulted. The walls are built of dressed stone and limestone, with thick mortar joints. The church has never been domed. The entrance to the church is on the west front. A well-proportioned belfry, built of ashlars and bricks, was built in the northwest part of the monastery yard. Fresco decoration of the church dates back to the eight decade of the 16th century, but the restoration works recognized the older fresco lays dating back to the 14th century. Its major part is either destroyed or coated with mortar and whitewashed. The condition of preserved fresco paintings, covering over 70 sq meters testify to great skills of old unknown painters. The image of St. Simeon Mirotocivi is portrayed in the first zone of the western wall and next to him there is the depiction of Saint Sava. It is not known who and when painted the frescoes in the Church. The iconostasis is contemporary to the mural decoration, proved by its original position. Two big icons of the Christ Pantocrator and the Holy Virgin Hodegetria as well as the centrally positioned figure of the enthroned Christ were painted by famous medieval fresco-painter Longin.Source MNEMOSYNE
Church of St. Stephen, dedicated to the Holy Archdeacon Stephen, is located in the center of the village and date back to the 14th century. It is the main church in the village where church service is regularly held. The church is single nave, rectangular in plan, with an apse semicircular inside and three-sided in the exterior, without dome, surrounded by wall encompassing the spacious court-yard with the well and the dormitory. The walls of the church were built of bigger pieces of stone and they are rather precisely dressed. In 1853. the church was entirely restored when the new narthex and the tripartite belfry were built.
Besides those churches, there are other Christian shrines preserved in Velika Hoca village: The Church of St. Elias, the prophet, The Church of St. Cyriaca /dedicated to one of the Christ's brides/, The Church of St. Paraskeve, The Church of St. Anne, The Church of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, The Church of the Holy Apostle Peter, The Church of the Holy Virgin, nameless Church in Dugi Rid, The Church of St. Blaise, The Church of the St. Savior, little Church of St. Tryphon /inside the Decani Monastery wine cellar, the patron of vineyards and wine/.
Since the rule of Tzar Dusan, the vineyards of Velika Hoca belong to Decani Monastery, whose monks are nowadays particularly engaged in the wine-growing and wine production using the existing traditional wine cellars. Vineyards in the surroundings of the village, in private possession, occupied an area of 160 ha. Owing to favorable ecologic conditions, the wine-growers could plant between 10.000 to 12.000 vines on an area of 1 ha, from which major production was produced and sold to the Winery "Orvin", as the export product of exceptional quality and highly prized in the domestic and international market. "Prokupac", "Vranac" and "Game" among the red wines and "Smederevka" and "Riesling" among whites, were the most often cultivated and thriving sorts. The wine production is traditionally followed by the exquisite brandy production.
Until the NATO attacks to Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. in Velika Hoča there was not any house settled by Albanian inhabitants.
In spite of tragic times for Serb population living in this small village, the comprehensive Strategy on long-term protection, preservation and revitalization of the Heritage in Velika Hoca is prepared by MNEMOSYNE, the Center for protection of Heritage of Kosovo and Metohija, defining the acceptable and sustainable concept for the well-being of existing inhabitants. Production of wines with the protected geographic region is one of the major developing part of this economic strategy and should be funded and supported by both Serbian and international institutions.
Nowadays there are about 700 Serbs living in Velika Hoca in extreme difficult conditions, badly suffering from the tragic misfortune, out of basic human rights, experiencing the constant torture, retribution and violence, but irregular electricity and water supply, facing the constant fear for pure life, completely isolated in the hostile surroundings of the armed Albanian population. It is often the cruel fact that they are literally cut from their own estates and vineyards, so "Albanian neighbors" take advantage of the grapes grown and wine produced, taking all means of pressure for more than eight years to persuade the existing Serb minority, without the basic economy existence and confidence in police or UN protection, to flee "quietly" from their homes.