Pristina Travel Guide

Pristina (Prishtina in Albanian) is the capital and the largest city of Kosovo, it and its suburbs are estimated to have a total population of over 500,000. It is unclear how many inhabitants the city has, as the population has for decades boycotted the censuses organized in former Yugoslavia.

The area of Pristina has a long history, in its vincity archaeological discoveries have been found which date back to the early neolithical ages. 

Southeast of the city, the remains of Ulpiana were discovered, the center of the Illyrian province of Dardania. Ulpiana dates back to pre Roman times, during Roman rule Ulpiana flourished it was renewed in the 6th century during the rule of Justinian, after whom it was called Iustinana Secunda. According to inscriptions on the monuments from Ulpiana, it is apparent that it was one of the most beautiful cities of the Illyrian Dardania, as it was often reffered to as Ulpiana Splendissima. A number of articles were discovered here such as coins, ceramics, weapons, jewlery, all of which are exhibited at the Museum of History of Kosovo in Pristina.

After the incursions of Slavs and barbarians during the early Middle Ages, the destroyed town of Ulpiana was abandoned, creating the locality for the new town of Pristina.

During Serbian rule, Pristina was a major political center. Near Pristina is the site of the Battle of Kosovo (1389), in which a Balkan alliance, led by Serbian Prince Lazar, fought against the Ottoman army. The battle marked the begining of Ottoman rule of the region.

Pristina developed in the 14th and 15th century as a mining and trading center of the Novoberde and the Mount Kopaonik (Albanik) mining industry. During the Ottoman rule in the region, it was an important administrative center, seat of the ruling Pasha, and for a while it was the center of the Kosovo Vilayet.

During the Austrian-Turkish Wars of the 17th century, the Albanian population of Pristina under the command of Pjet‘r Bogdani fought aside the Austrian army against the Ottoman Turks. During Piccollominni's campaign and later Austrian campaigns, Pristina suffered considerably, as was the case during the 1859 and 1863 fires. A ren dering of the building of the Academy of Arts and Sciences (18th century), an example of Pristina's traditional architecture

In the 19th century, according to the writings of A. Bue (1838), Pristina had 7000-9000 inhabitants, and Hilferding (1857) wrote that the town had 1500 houses. In the middle of the 19th century, Pristina was famous for its fairs (panair) of various crafts and trade articles, especially goat hide and hair articles, coppersmiths, pottery, embroidery, etc.

During World War II, Pristina (with around 16,000 inhabitants), was included in the zone occupied by Italians, and was the center of the prefecture with the same name.

Historical monuments near Pristina include the Gracanica Monastery, built in 1321 on the basis of an older church, and the Mausoleum of Sultan Murat, reconstructed in 1850 by Hurshid Pasha.

Pristina became the capital of Kosovo after World War II. Up to this point, Pristina had retained its appearance as an oriental town, but the intensive modernization of Pristina in socialist Yugoslavia had managed to completely change the structure and look of the city, and had even destroyed the old ‚arshia (shopping street) and 18th and 19th century buildings to replace them with new ones. The old narrow cobble stone streets and low mostly mud made houses were replaced by new modern complexes and wide streets, and attractive public buildings: the Assembly Building, Radio Station, the Television of Pristina, Press and Publishing Hall, the University Library, several banking centers, etc.

The most popular localities of Pristina are Kurrizi (The Spine) in the Dardania quarter and Qafa (The Neck) near the center of the city, which feature many shops, cafés and hangouts, opened in tunnels built within residential buildings

A rendering of the House of Emin Gjika (18th century), located next to the Museum of Natural History, another example of the traditional architecture of Pristina.