Rreth Prizrenit | Visit Prizren

About Prizren

Thanks to its favorable geographical position, harmonious blending of these cultures throughout history and an enviable number of monuments of all time, Prizren rightly holds the epithet "Museum City", "Museum under the open sky" or even "Dubrovnik of the Balkans”, to be ranked as one of the most beautiful cities in Kosovo.

Located at the foot of the Sharr Mountains, (declared "National Park"), on both banks of the Lumbardhi and at the crossroads of important trade routes between east and west, Prizren has historically been known as an important cultural, economic and diplomatic center.

Prizren is undoubtedly one of the most important settlements in Kosovo.

It has a sensational past that has drawn the curiosity of various guidebooks, historians, geographers and scientists, who have published many works on this well-known administrative cultural, historical and political area.

The territory of Prizren has been inhabited for a long time and preserves evidence and archeological monuments from the Neolithic, Eneolithic, Bronze, Iron, Antiquity and beyond.

This is evidenced by the numerous artifacts discovered in the case of archeological excavations, made in a number of localities.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Prizren is one of the oldest cities in Southeast Europe and beyond.

The Municipality of Prizren with an area of 640 square kilometers (5.94% of the territory of Kosovo) is located in the southwest of Kosovo with 74 settlements and about 175,000 inhabitants.

It borders with the municipalities of Gjakova, Rahovec, Suhareka, Strpce, Dragash, Mamusha and neighboring countries Albania and Northern Macedonia.

The plain of Prizren is located at an altitude of about 400 meters and some peaks of Sharr exceed 2000 meters above sea level.

The city's climate is diverse.

The famous geographer from Alexandria, Claudius Ptolemy (87-150) in his work "Geography" among other things highlights the road that has connected the Adriatic basin with the interior of Illyria.

The anonymous author from Ravenna, Italy, who lived towards the end of the 7th century or the beginning of the 8th century, in his work "Cosmographia" (Description of the world) among the 5,300 geographical names of the world at that time also records Theranda.

Prizren's most valuable assets are its values inherited from past centuries. These values are manifested with a perfect architecture and magical urban structure on the one hand and with special folk traditions on the other.

Prizren's cultural heritage is a rare coloring and represents the most attractive identity omnibus in Kosovo.

Prizren is the place where different cultures and civilizations meet, whose contribution has been essential for the city today to be a value of world civilization in terms of cultural heritage.

Prizren is also known for the development of trade thanks to its connection with the Silk Road.

In this road, the city has made the connection between several commercial places such as: Pristina, Skopje, Tirana and Podgorica.

The city has played the role of bridge and guesthouse connectivity (Inn’s).

In the past, the development of the city is closely related to the developments of handicrafts, trade and with them the traffic network.

The old Dardanian highway connecting Lezha with Nis passed through Prizren.

This road in the middle Ages was called Via de Zenta.

Freight was transported by caravans.

The passage of this road through Prizren, its branching from the city in several other directions, traffic, collection, distribution of all that goods from the Mediterranean to the Danube and vice versa, enabled Prizren to establish business connections with hundreds of villages and towns, and as such, reap the benefits for itself.

With the advent of rail traffic, the old road loses its former importance. This had serious consequences for the city.

Religion Religion

Prizren is home to Albanians, Turks, Roma, Bosniaks, Serbs and others.
In the mosaic of religious affiliations of the citizens of Prizren is dominated by the Islamic faith, then the Catholic, Orthodox and other religions.
Prizren has a considerable number of mosques, Orthodox, Catholic churches, followed by tekkes and shrines, which co-create the grandeur and harmony of Prizren's religious architecture.

Nature Nature

Prizren is one of the natural cities, where the intervention of the human hand is quite small compared to the beauties created by nature itself.
On this perfect natural context and very suitable geographical relief, the whole centuries-old architecture and civilization of Prizren has been built.

Art and Culture Art and Culture

Prizren is the city of handicrafts.
Crafts continue in parallel with traditional ones, such as silver wires that are still worked with a fiery discipline and love. 
Also handicrafts with various silver samples.
If you are near a blacksmith, you may hear a sound that makes you think it is the sound of a musical instrument coming from the hammer of a master who beats this metal to give the instrument the right shape.
In Prizren, handicrafts such as filigree works, shoemakers, tailors, barbers, etc. can be noticed, which means that you can meet the traditional handicrafts that continue to live quietly among the citizens.

Cultural heritageCultural heritage

This city has been known since antiquity as a unique place in the Balkans for the values of cultural heritage, civilizations and different religions, thanks to the favorable geographical position, the harmonious interweaving of cultures throughout history and a number of cultural heritage monuments of all time.
Prizren, as one of the most beautiful cities, holds the epithet of "Museum City", "Museum under the open sky" or even "Dubrovnik of the Balkans".

CuisineCuisine

Prizren is known for its dough preparations, among which are: pogaçja, toplia, pitajka with eggs, pitja (pie) and flija.
Traditional Prizren cuisine is the essence of Prizren cuisine.
Also, çervish with meatballs, peppers with cottage cheese, Prizren casserole, dolma, sarma mousaka, beans, goulash, burjan with meat, Elbasan casserole, are the most prominent dishes of Prizren.
Also, Prizren is distinguished by various types of sweets such as: sugar cane, tespishte, baklava, sytliaç, tullumba and halva, which are among the most favorite.