Cultural Heritage of Kosovo

Kosovo is a partially recognized state located in the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe. The majority of Kosovars are ethnically Albanian or Serbian. Kosovo has an expansive cultural heritage, including monuments, clothing items, museums, and traditional food.

Many Monuments of Kosovo date from the neolithic period. Throughout history many monuments were changed, destroyed and new elements were added to them. There are different types of monuments that date from the Illyrian period continuing with the Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Late Antiquity and Middle Ages, Ottoman Empire period, etc. Most of the historical monuments are stationed in the district of the cities of Pristina, Prizren and Peja. Monuments in Kosovo mostly consist of ancient cities, castles (Kulla), monasteries, mosques and churches.

Some of the most famous monuments in Kosovo are:

Castles are also very common in Kosovo. The castle of Prizren, the city and castle of Artanë which was a huge trade city in the 13th century and earlier, the castle of Kekola an ancient Dardan castle which dates from the Bronze era (1300-1100 b.c), etc.

Unfortunately because of the many wars that Kosovo went through in different years and times, many monuments were destroyed.

Founded in 1949, the Kosovo museum has departments of archaeology, ethnography, and natural science, to which a department for the study of history and the National Liberation Struggle was added in 1959. It has been active in sponsoring archaeological excavations, conservation and other scientific work. Since 1956 it has published an annual journal called ` Buletin i Muzeut të Kosovës', with articles in Albanian (with summaries in French, English or German).

Today Kosovo has seven active museums all over its territory. The museums are the:

National Museum Of Kosovo is stationed in Pristina was built by Austrians for the Turkish army in 1898, and was used by the Yugoslav national army until 1975. Housed in an Austro Hungarian style house, contained more than 50,000 items exhibited through various pavilions. Also housed here are exhibits expressing the day in the life for the people in various regions. The museum used to have a rich collection of prehistoric objects uncovered in Kosovo – these were all spirited off to Belgrade just before the troubles started in 1998, and hundreds of archaeological finds and ethnographic items yet have to be returned. The extensive permanent archaeology exhibition details life in the region in the Illyrian, Dardanian and Roman periods. Centre stage is the 6,000-year-old Hynesha në Fron (Goddess on a throne) statue, found at Tjerrtorja in 1956 and returned to Pristina in 2002. In front of the building recent history is represented by some artillery hardware, and two large Jewish gravestones. The museum objectives are to save, protect and present the Cultural Heritage of Kosovo.

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Wikipedia