Tourism in Pristina attracted 36,186 foreign visitors in 2012, [1] which represents 74.2% [2] of all visitors that visited Kosovo during that year. Foreign visitors mostly come from countries like Albania, Turkey, Germany, United States, Slovenia and North Macedonia, [3] but also from other countries. Some of the most visited places in Pristina are Lake Batllava and Gadime Marble Cave, which are also among the most visited places in Kosovo. [4]
Pristina is the first touristic destination in Kosovo [5] and the main air gateway to Kosovo. [6] The number of foreign visitors that have visited Prishtina during 2012 grew by more than 10 thousand visitors since 2008, when there were 25,434 visitors. [7] During the first quarter of 2013 the number of hotels in Prishtina was 24 from 102 hotels that were in total in Kosovo and during the third quarter of the year 2013, 18.85% of hotel capacity were used and during the same period of that year, in Prishtina 423 rooms were with one bed, 268 rooms with two beds, 13 rooms with three beds, 49 apartments and 6 residents. [8]
Since 2009, Kosovo Tourism Association organizes an annual Tourism Fair in Pristina, [9] which is intended to attract foreign visitors to Kosovo. In the International Tourism Fair held in Tokyo, Japan, in 2013, 4 day packages have been presented that a tourist from Asia can enjoy in Kosovo, starting from Pristina, then continuing in Peja, Gjakova and concluding in Prizren. [10]
Pristina is a place that is known as a university center of students [11] from regional countries like Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia [12] and it represents a plateau of the combination of native, Ottoman and Yugoslav culture. [13] Its people are people that are known for hospitality [14] [15] [16] and religious tolerance, [17] [18] [19] where people in the city are mostly Muslims, but there are also Catholics, Orthodoxes, Atheists and people of other religions. [20] : 52 Around 23% of the people belong the group age of 16–27, [20] : 18 who are also very optimistic. [21]
Pristina has played a very important role during the World War II, [22] being a shelter for Jews, whose cemeteries now can be visited. [23] [24]
Coffee bars are a representative icon of Prishtina [13] and they can be found almost everywhere and are also centers of different festivals and events. In the region of Prishtina there is Gracanica monastery, which is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. [25]
The table below shows the number of national and international visitors and the number of nights spent in Prishtina from 2008 until 2012. As it can be seen from the table, one of the most successful year for tourism in Prishtina was the year 2012. [26]
Year | # of visitors | # of nights spent |
---|---|---|
2008 | 22,160 | 44,171 |
2009 | 40,168 | 67,715 |
2010 | 35,671 | 67,703 |
2011 | 32,245 | 63,716 |
2012 | 51,736 | 84,952 |
Tourism is showing some positive indications [27] that it is improving in Kosovo and also in Pristina.
A very large part of the city of Prishtina has a lot of oriental elements, including causeway roads, [31] many mosques, bazars and The Memorial Monument of Gazimestan. Some of the mosques are King Mosque, built during the years 1460–1461 from Sulltan Mehmet II al Fatih, Jashar Pasha Mosque and Çarshia Mosque.
In Prishtina there is the Big Bazar which today is a very active zone in the city of Prishtina, although a large part of it has been destroyed in years 1950s, which still has the same style of a lot of other bazars that can be found in Balkan. [32]
Prishtina was impacted from Yugoslavia because it was part of Yugoslav Federation for a few decades, taking elements of The Yugoslav Style, where such buildings can be seen even today.
Prishtina has a number of parks like The City Park, Taukbahqe Park, Arberia Park, and the most known, Germia National Park. [34] : 135-139 Germia is a rich place of flora and fauna, with more than 75 percent of its territory covered with forests and its highest point is 1,050 meters above the sea level. [34] : 135 It has some sport fields, walking and biking paths, some restaurants and a lake-sized swimming pool. [42]
Prishtina is a place where a lot and different events and festivals take place, that attract a lot of both national, and international visitors.
The best known of all and most distinctive one, flija, is prepared year-round but is a summer favourite. Flija made with saç is a specialty from the traditional Albanian cuisine, that is mostly prepared in mountainous areas. It is most certainly one of the typical Kosovar dishes that everyone local will recommend. Baklava is one of the traditional pastries of the Kosovar cuisine, although of Turkish origin. Bakllasarem is also a traditional food of Kosovo it is a salty pie with yoghurt and garlic covering. [66]
Prishtina has a small area, but with a lot of coffee bars, [67] [ circular reference ] that are near each other. Nightlife amazes the foreign visitors [68] and it is mainly concentrated in the Mother Teresa boulevard, Fehmi Agani road and Pejton neighborhood. Past Korza where the youth walked in the Mother Teresa boulevard has already been replaced with night clubs, discos and different coffee bars, [34] : 107 where Hamam Bar, that offers life jazz music, has entered among the top five bar restaurants with the best enteriour design in the world. [69]
Prishtina has been inhabited for nearly 10,000d years, [70] and for this reason, it has a rich cultural heritage.
Kosovo District was a district of Kosovo and Metohija between 1990 and the end of the Kosovo War in 1999. From the Serbian point of view, the district continues to be part of the Republic of Serbia. It had a population of 672,292 and its capital was Pristina.
Podujevë or Besianë is a city and municipality in the Pristina District in Kosovo. Podujevë is the largest municipality of Kosovo since it covers 632.59 km2 (244 sq mi) and is located along a regional motorway and also has railroad passing through it, which links the area to surrounding regions. Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, is located some 23 km (14 mi) to the south.
Lipjan or Lipljan is a town and municipality located in the Pristina District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Lipjan has 6,870 inhabitants, while the municipality has 57,605 inhabitants.
The District of Pristina is a district in Kosovo. Its seat is the capital city of Pristina. It consists of eight municipalities and 298 villages. According to the 2024 census, the total population of the district is 511,938.
Ulpiana was an ancient Roman city located in what is today Kosovo. It was also named Justiniana Secunda (Latin: Iustiniana Secunda, Albanian: Justinianë Sekundë. Ulpiana is located in the municipality of Graçanicë, 12 km southeast of Prishtinë. The Minicipium Ulpiana or Iustiniana Secunda was proclaimed an archaeological park under the permanent protection of Kosovo by the Kosova Council for Cultural Heritage in 2016. The archaeological park has an area of 161.10 hectares and a surrounding protection zone of 96.23 hectares. Ulpiana was among the largest settlements in the Balkans in late antiquity.
Pristina or Prishtina is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
Christianity in Kosovo has a long-standing tradition dating to the Roman Empire. The entire Balkan region had been Christianized by the Roman, Byzantine, First Bulgarian Empire, Serbian Kingdom, Second Bulgarian Empire, and Serbian Empire till 13th century. After the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 until 1912, Kosovo was part of the Muslim Ottoman Empire, and a high level of Islamization occurred. During the time period after World War II, Kosovo was ruled by secular socialist authorities in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). During that period, Kosovars became increasingly secularized. Today, 87% of Kosovo's population are from Muslim family backgrounds, most of whom are ethnic Albanians, but also including Slavic speakers and Turks.
Tourism in Kosovo is characterized by archaeological heritage from Illyrian, Dardanian, Roman, Byzantine, Serbian and Ottoman times, traditional Albanian and Serbian cuisine, architecture, religious heritage, traditions, and natural landscapes. Kosovo is situated in south-eastern Europe. With its central position in the Balkans, it serves as a link in the connection between central and south Europe, the Adriatic Sea, and Black Sea.
Archaeology of Kosovo as a field of study and research was started in the second half of the 20th century. Kosovo's field of archaeology has developed in tandem with the historical study, studies of ancient authors' sources, classic philological studies, theological data research, topographic studies and ground survey, analysis of toponyms, deciphering of epigraphic and historiographic data. First data about antique monuments in Kosovo, were documented from the end of the 19th until the beginning of the Second World War, a time period when Kosovo was visited by researchers, guides, and archaeologists such as: Evans, Boue, Hahn, Kanitz, Tomaschek, Domaschevski, Arpad, Vulic, Jirecek, Patsch, Domenico Mustilli, etc.
The forests of Kosovo make up about 44.7% Agricultural land comprises 53% of Kosovo's total land area and forests 44.7% of the entire surface of the territory. Most of the forests are located in southwestern Kosovo, including the outskirts of Peja, Deçan, Istog, Junik and Gjakova and are protected by particular laws of the Kosovar Constitution. There are several types of forests in Kosovo and they are mostly represented by pinnate ones.
Kosovo is a partially recognized state and disputed territory located in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The majority of Kosovars are ethnically Albanian. Kosovo has an expansive cultural heritage, including monuments, clothing items, museums, and traditional food.
The Roman heritage sites in Kosovo represent a multitude of monuments of material and spiritual culture, which reflect the Roman period in this region. Among them, a special place is occupied by those that represent the development of art, such as the plastic monuments that are more frequent, and at the same time occupy an important place, because with the presentation of figures in relief and with numerous inscriptions they speak to us enough for this period.
Monuments of Kosovo comprise all the monuments that are located in Kosovo.
The Bazaar of Pristina, Kosovo, was the core merchandising center of the Old Pristina since the 15th century, when it was built. It played a significant role in the physical, economic, and social development of Pristina. The Old Bazaar was destroyed during the 1950s and 1960s, following the modernization slogan of "Destroy the old, build the new". In its place, buildings of Kosovo Assembly, Municipality of Pristina, PTT, and Brotherhood and Unity socialist square were built. Nowadays, instead of PTT building resides the Government of Kosovo building. Only few historical buildings, such as the Bazaar Mosque and ruins of the Bazaar Hammam have remained from the Bazaar complex. Since then, Pristina has lost part of its identity, and its cultural heritage has been scattered.
The Great Hammam of Pristina is an Ottoman-era monument in Pristina, Kosovo. It was built in the 15th century and was part of the Imperial Mosque. During the summer and spring, it was used as a meeting place. Considered one of the most important buildings of the cultural and historical heritage, the Great Hammam of Pristina was in poor condition through the years until its restoration was approved.
As the capital city of Kosovo, Pristina is the heart of the cultural and artistic development of all Albanians that live in Kosovo. The department of cultural affairs is just one of the segments that arranges the cultural events, which make Pristina one of the cities with the most emphasized cultural and artistic traditions.
Historical monuments in Pristina are made up of 21 monuments out of a total of 426 protected monuments all over Kosovo. A large number of these monuments date back to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Since 1945, the Yugoslav authorities followed the idea of constructing a modern Pristina by relying in the urban development motto “destroy the old, build the new” and this resulted with major changes in the structure of the buildings, their function and their surrounding environment. However, numerous types of monuments have been preserved, including four mosques, a restored orthodox church, an Ottoman bath, a public fountain, a clock tower, several traditional houses as well as European-influenced architecture buildings such as the Museum of Kosovo. These symbolize the historical and cultural character of Pristina as it was developed throughout centuries in the spirit of conquering empires.
Education in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, consists of primary, secondary and higher education. Pristina houses a number of public and private institutions, such as the University "Hasan Prishtina", the National Library of Kosovo, and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. Throughout the last century Pristina has attracted a considerable number of students from Kosovo. Today, the city of Pristina hosts a large number of intellectuals, professors, academics, students, and professionals in various spheres.
The architecture of Kosovo dates back to the Neolithic period and includes the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages, Antiquity and the Medieval period. It has been influenced by the presence of different civilizations and religions as evidenced by the structures which have survived to this day. Local builders have combined building techniques of conquering empires with the materials at hand and the existing conditions to develop their own varieties of dwellings.
The Imperial Mosque, also known as King's Mosque, is an Ottoman mosque located in Pristina, Kosovo. It was built in 1461 by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. The inscription written in Arabic alphabet in six rows which is situated in the entry portal as the exact date of construction provides the year 1461, according to the Gregorian calendar, i.e. Hijra 865 year according to the Islamic calendar.
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