The Banjska Monastery founded by Serbian KingStefan Milutin was burnt down following the Ottoman invasion and the monastery was looted during the Ottoman occupation of Medieval Serbia.[4] It was damaged again during the 16th century, after which it was abandoned until a mosque was built on the ruins in the 17th century.[4] The entire complex suffered the greatest destruction after the withdrawal of the Ottoman army from the Great Turkish War.[4]
After the capture of Prizren and its surroundings in 1455 by the Ottoman Empire, the Monastery of the Holy Archangels founded by Serbian EmperorStefan Dušan was looted and destroyed.[5] At the beginning of the 17th century, a systematic demolition was conducted on the monastery churches and it is widely considered that construction material was used to build the Sinan Pasha Mosque in the same city, but such claims have not been proven.[5][6]
At the close of the 17th century, the Ottoman Turks plundered the Visoki Dečani monastery, but made no serious damage.[7] In the first half of the 18th century the Our Lady of Ljeviš in Prizren had been converted into a mosque and adjusted to the needs of services characteristic of Islam.[7] Two monuments dedicated to the Battle of Kosovo were destroyed and removed by the Turks, including one erected by Stefan Lazarević, the Serbian Despot and son of Lazar of Serbia.[8][9]
The 16th century Church of St. Nicholas in the municipality of Lipjan was pulled down in the 19th century and construction material was sold to build the Kosovo railway.[10][11] The medieval Novo Brdo Fortress and the town were heavily damaged by disintegration in 1892 when the cornerstone referred to the construction of barracks in Pristina.[12]
Following the invasion of Yugoslavia (6–18 April 1941) in World War II, the largest part of Kosovo was attached to Italian occupied Albania in an enlarged "Greater Albania".[14] During the occupation, part of the Serb population was subject to expulsion, torture, destruction of private property, destruction and damaging of monasteries, churches, cultural-historical monuments and graveyards.[14]
The Visoki Dečani was targeted for destruction by the Albanian nationalist Balli Kombëtar and Italian fascistblackshirts in mid-1941. The Royal Italian Army responded by sending a group of soldiers to help protect the monastery from attack.[15] Third monuments dedicated to the Battle of Kosovo were totally destroyed in 1941.[8][9]
The Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Gjakova was destroyed by the communists in 1949.[16][17] Prior to 1968, the Yugoslav state carried out the destruction of churches, the listing of church properties as state cultural heritage, the seizure of church and monastery artifacts to be displayed in state museums, as well as, the appropriation of property for state functions.[18] During 1968 and 1981 protests, Serbian Orthodox religious sites were the target of vandalism, while vandalism continued during the 1980s.[19][20] There were attempts to devastate Devič, damage Visoki Dečani and desecrate Gračanica and the Hermitage of St. Peter of Koriša.[10] In March 1981, the Patriarchal Monastery of Peć was set on fire, which destroyed a 2,000-square meter residential section along with valuable furniture, rare liturgical books and some of the monastery's treasury.[21][22]
Kosovo War and aftermath
NATO bombing in March–June 1999 resulted in the damaging of the Gračanica Monastery, Patriarchal Monastery of Peć complex of four churches, as well as the Visoki Dečani and wall paintings of the Hermitage of St. Peter of Koriša, among the more notable churches.[23][7] No Serbian Orthodox churches or monasteries were damaged or destroyed by the KLA during the war.[24] However, following the end of hostilities in June 1999, dozens of Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries were damaged in revenge attacks.[24] In the aftermath of war, KLA fighters were accused of vandalizing Devič monastery and terrorizing the staff. KFOR troops said KLA rebels vandalized centuries-old murals and paintings in the chapel and stole two cars and all the monastery's food.[25][26] Karima Bennoune, United Nations special rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, referred to the many reports of widespread attacks against churches committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army.[27] In 2014, John Clint Williamson announced EU Special Investigative Task Force's investigative findings and he indicated that a certain element of the KLA following the conclusion of the war (June 1999) intentionally targeted minority populations with acts of persecution that also included desecration and destruction of churches and other religious sites.[28]Fabio Maniscalco, an Italian archaeologist, specialist about the protection of cultural property, described that KLA members seized icons and liturgical ornaments as they ransacked and that they proceeded to destroy Christian Orthodox churches and monasteries with mortar bombs after the arrival of KFOR.[29]
Within post-conflict Kosovo Albanian society, calls for retaliation for previous violence done by forces of the Slobodan Milošević regime during the war circulated through public culture.[24] The destruction of Serbian architectural heritage was interpreted by Albanians within that post-conflict context as architecture becoming a surrogate for forces held responsible committing violence during the war needing to be avenged, in particular the Milošević government and its army.[24] Such fabrication of interpreting architecture as unavenged violence resulted in the mediation of an idea present at the time that destruction of churches and monasteries entailed not only revenge for violence during the 1998—99 war; but also for a chain of real or imagined violent actions going far back as the medieval building of churches upon "crypto-Albanian" religious sites.[24]
Widespread attacks against Serbian religious sites commenced following the conflict and the return of hundreds of thousands of Kosovo Albanian refugees to their homes.[30] Between the arrival of the Kosovo Force (KFOR) in June 1999 and the 2004 unrest in Kosovo, more than 140 holy sites were destroyed, about half of the historical ones from the 14th and 15th centuries and about half of the recently made ones.[31][1][32] Serbenco Eduard explained that the destruction of the opponent's cultural property and cultural genocides took place in the Yugoslav wars, and that religious buildings were targeted due to the nature of the conflict.[32] Destruction was carried out in a systematic manner.[33][34] András Riedlmayer, Andrew Herscher and Tonka Kostadinova described the destruction of Serbian architectural heritage as revenge attacks.[30][33] These discourses of viewing Serbian historical architecture as a surrogates of violence within Kosovo Albanian society had the effect of justifying destruction as an endless process, instead of working toward a politics of justice.[35] Due to vandalization, the need arose for the armed force of the UN to protect locations containing Serbian religious heritage in Kosovo.[36] On the other hand, foreign correspondent Robert Fisk criticized describing the destruction as revenge attacks.[37] He explained that the destruction actions were planned and described them as "vandalism with a mission".[37]
List of monuments damaged or destroyed in 1999
The tower of the Gazimestan memorial site was mined from the inside and bronze plaque placed on the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Kosovo were torn out.[38]
Presentation of the Virgin church in Dolac (built in 1620), completely demolished in August 1999[44]
Devič Monastery in Skenderaj (15th century), pillaged and torched, the tomb of St. Joanikije of Devič was desecrated in June 1999.[48][49] The KFOR troops said KLA rebels vandalized centuries-old murals and paintings in the chapel.[50][51]
Church of Dormition of the Virgin (also known as the Monastery of St. Uroš) in Gornje Nerodimlje (14th century), completely destroyed in summer 1999[44]
Church of the Holy Virgin in Korishë (16th -17th century), church and the cemetery were destroyed in summer 1999[44]
Holy Trinity Church in Ratiš (built in 1922, destroyed in 1941 and reconstructed in 1992). In summer 1997 the church was set on fire and was reconstructed again. In June 1999 the church was finally mined and completely destroyed.[44]
Church of St Mark in Klina, heavily damaged in summer 1999[44]
Parish church in Grmovo, near Viti, first it was set on fire and then completely destroyed by explosive.[44]
Church of St Nicholas in Gatnje near Ferizaj (built in 1985), looted, vandalized and seriously damaged by explosive[44]
Church of St. Nicolas in Kijevo, near Klina (14th century), completely destroyed by explosive. Crosses and tombstones at the cemetery were also destroyed.[44]
Church of St. Nicholas, Đurakovac (built in the 14th century, renovated in 1592), dynamited in July 1999, large centuries old oak tree was cut into peaces and burned[56]
Postwar, Albanian Kosovan media, supportive of and controlled by Albanian resistance groups, induced a climate of fear among local journalists toward preventing balanced coverage of violence perpetrated by both sides.[63] It generated a nationalist media campaign that drove and coordinated successive attacks against locations that contained Serbian heritage.[63]
In an urgent appeal,[64] issued on 18 March by the extraordinary session of the Expanded Convocation of the Holy Synod of Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), it was reported that a number of Serbian churches and shrines in Kosovo had been damaged or destroyed by rioters. At least 30 sites were completely destroyed, more or less destroyed, or further destroyed (sites that had been previously destroyed).[31] Apart from the churches and monasteries, tens of support buildings (such as parish buildings, economical buildings and residences), bringing the number close to 100 buildings of the SPC destroyed.[31] All churches and objects of the SPC in Prizren were destroyed.[31] The list includes several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The violence quickly spread to other parts of Kosovo, with Kosovo Serb communities and religious and cultural symbols attacked by crowds of Albanians.[65] Some of these locations were ostensibly under the protection of KFOR at the time. During the riots and violence, eight Kosovo Serbians were killed. Among damaged property was the targeted cultural and architectural heritage of the Serb people, and as a result 35 churches, including 18 monuments of culture, were demolished, burnt or severely damaged.[66][65]
List of religious buildings damaged or destroyed in 2004
The Reconstruction Implementation Commission (RIC) for Serbian Orthodox religious sites in Kosovo is an EU-funded project to promote the reconstruction of cultural heritage.[69] It has 35 sites under its responsibility.[70] The project of the revitalization of the Novo Brdo fortress was financed by the European Union and implemented by UNESCO and UNMIK.[71]
^ abcIsraeli, Raphael (2018). Kosovo: The Loss by Complacency: The Relic and Reminder of Ottomanism in the Balkans. Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency. pp. 5–6. ISBN978-1-948858-79-3.
^ abAndrás Riedlmayer. "Introduction in Destruction of Islamic Heritage in the Kosovo War, 1998-1999"(PDF). p. 11. Remarkably, not a single Serb Orthodox church or monastery in Kosovo was damaged or destroyed by Albanians during the 1998-1999 conflict. Unfortunately that changed after the end of the war, as thousands of Albanian refugees who had been forced out of Kosovo during the war returned to their burned-out home towns and villages. Following the end of hostilities in June 1999, dozens of Serb Orthodox churches and monasteries were damaged in revenge attacks.
^Herscher 2010, p. 14: "Part III examines the destruction of architectural surrogates of unavenged violence in postwar Kosovo. After the 1998—99 war, calls for retribution for prior violence inflicted by Serb forces against Kosovar Albanians circulated through Kosovar Albanian public culture. The postconflict destruction of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries was narrated as a form of this retribution, with architecture becoming a surrogate for the agencies deemed responsible for the violence to be avenged—initially the Milošević regime and its military forces. The fabrication of architecture as a surrogate for unavenged violence, however, not only mediated an already constituted concept of violence but also ramified on that concept; the destruction of churches and monasteries represented not only revenge for the violence of the 1998—99 war but also a continuous sequence of actual or imagined violent acts stretching back to the medieval construction of churches on crypto-Albanian religious sites. The destruction of architectural surrogates of violence thereby elicited a potentially endless justification for destruction rather than a politics of justice."
^Group of authors, "Spomeničko nasleđe Srbije: nepokretna kulturna dobra od izuzetnog i od velikog značaja" (II edition), Belgrade, 2007. ISBN978-86-80879-60-4
^ abFolić, Ljubiša. (1999). Crucified Kosovo--destroyed and desecrated Serbian Orthodox churches in Kosovo and Metohia, June-October, 1999 = b Raspeto Kosovo--uništene i oskrnavljene srpske pravoslavne crkve na Kosovu i Metohiji, jun-oktobar, 1999. "Glas Kosova i Metohije" medijsko-izdavački centar Eparhije Rasko-prizrenske Srpske Pravoslavne crkve. LCCN2001364933. OCLC47099371.
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