ask any kosovar to name the most beautiful city
of their young nation and you'll get the same response it's Prizren
welcome to Prizren the best city in kosovo
although inhabited since the illyrian and roman times prizren's heyday was during the Ottoman
Empire, with a privileged position along the trade routes of the day it became the albanian
political and cultural capital and the ottoman era houses and mosques reflect the power and wealth of
those times. the town's fortunes would change in the 20th century after the first balkan war,
prizren lost its influence on the albanian lands to the west after albania itself
declared independence, later when albania's communist dictator Enver Hoxha sealed the border
prizren found itself in a remote corner of yugoslavia cut off from its previous trade links.
in 1999 despite fierce resistance serbian forces overran the town and the albanian population fled.
thankfully when they returned, unlike many other towns in kosovo, most of the buildings
remained intact, however in 2004 an outbreak of ethnic riots resulted in many serbian buildings
being looted and burnt. present-day prizren is building itself a reputation
as the cultural and tourist capital of kosovo and with a new highway linking the
town to albania it once again feels like it's at the heart of the western balkans
almost every tourist image of this city will include this building, the remarkable
sinan pasha mosque constructed in 1615 it's become the emblematic symbol of prizre.n many
mosques were destroyed during the kosovo war but thankfully prizren's famous mosque was spared.
it was badly damaged in 1919 but recent renovations have restored the building to
its former glory - perhaps surprisingly though the garden of the mosque is not
an oasis of tranquility but is instead a center for tourist shops and a restaurant
so if my limited italian is correct i understand that the original church was 5th century
and a larger church was built in the 12th century but that church was burnt down a number of times
during the ottoman period and it was only in the 18th century that the present cathedral
was constructed. now at first glance it might seem a little strange that there's a monument
to skanderbeg the albanian national hero in the grounds of the cathedral, until you know
that skanderbeg did in fact convert to christianity. nothing is simple in the balkans!
the serbian orthodox church of saint george was one of the buildings that was very badly damaged
during the 2004 riots, it's now protected by security and photography inside is not permitted.
the building behind me has enormous significance for albanians as the seat of the league of
prizren. in the latter half of the 19th century the ottoman empire was weakening and as a result
albanian lands were being lost to incursions by bulgaria and serbia. a group of leaders founded
the league of prizren to lobby for albanian autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. in theory a
win-win for both sides as they would support the ottomans against the incursions from the east,
but as a political and military force it quickly became so successful that the ottomans instead
felt threatened. prizren was recaptured by the ottomans in 1881 and the leaders of the league
were either killed or imprisoned in prrizn fortress. however the actions of the league
are remembered to this day as a crucial moment of albanian national awakening. the historic
headquarters was deliberately destroyed by serbian forces in the kosovo war of 1999. it has since
been rebuilt and is now part of a museum complex. the ethnographic curator linda very kindly agreed
to show me around. this building is albanian league of prizren and this was a madrasl
and this is a religious school, after they give to the museum and now is a part of museum.
in albanian we have a promise that we call bessa and there they give the bessa,
the promise, to go and to win the war. linda i've heard that in traditional albanian clothing
the colours are very important ,the clothes speak. the colours are very important because
they show an emotional part how they feel their feelings and the young ladies have more colour for
brides. if some lady's husband dies or go somewhere and she put like this the clothes
and just to know an opinion that she's a wife without husband. So the clothes really do speak!
this is my very plush room at the hotel prior
and for the first time on this kosovo trip i have a balcony!
Danmat tell me one thing that every visitor to prizren must do. you need to go to the castle
when the sun is going down because its very good and beautiful. okay let's go to the castle then!
there's been a fortification here since at least the sixth century
which is easy to understand really because a better site for a castle is very hard to imagine.
during the ottoman period there was a full garrison up here and a mosque
and a quite notorious prison too these days it's just a very popular saturday afternoon destination
because the views over the town and the mountains towards albania and macedonia are just incredible
if you're looking for traditional albanian cooking then this
has to be the place to come. obviously most of the menu is meat but i was able to enjoy
vegetarian hot pot and then the most incredibly strong mountain cheese you can imagine.
the owner jimmy will be happy to show you around his eclectic collection of
albanian artifacts and then if you're really lucky... so this is very strong special rakia
albanian brandy self made so homemade - whoa - ice glass and uh
for my guest from britain from england
well how do you say cheers?
in the center I've found two other youtubers hello guys how are you doing i'm john is my my
brother is sizo. We're youtubers traveling the world i like i'm crazy about kosovo,
positive women, positive people, i like Kosovar people! you know pristina has so much energy
it leaves you breathless, here in prizren life is a little calmer. amongst the mountains and the
minarets it's best to take things slowly moving from cafe to cafe. i love this town but that's
all i have time for, please subscribe to the channel and i hope to see you on the next journey